Astro Boy 2: Destiny's Core
by TopazDragon7
Summary: Set one month after the 2009 movie, and Astro is getting used to his new peaceful life in Metro City...almost. However, he finds that he will experience new emotions, thoughts and troubles when he is given his very first assignment. But as always, danger lurks around every corner. What will he do when he has to face a new and mysterious enemy? AstroxOC :3 Please review!
1. Chapter 1 - Regular Routines

**Chapter One – Regular Routines**

It had been a month since our robot hero defeated the one-eyed orange alien. Things had been going swimmingly in Metro City, and Astro was pleased that things were back to normal…almost. Cora had moved in with her parents, and Zane, Widget, Sludge and many of the other children from the surface were sent to an orphanage on the edge of the city. Even though he hadn't seen them in ages, he knew that they were still thinking of him. Dr Tenma continued his hard work at the Ministry of Science and had been gone for several days, which made Astro feel lonely even with Orrin there.

"Are you ok, Tob- Astro?" asked Orrin, watching Astro sit on his windowsill in silence. He tried his best not to let Toby's name slip out of his robotic mouth.

"Yeah, I just wish that Dad would get back sooner," Astro replied with a heavy sigh.

"Oh, don't worry. I'm sure your father will be home soon."

"I know."

There was a long silence before either of them spoke again.

"Is there anything you would like me to do for you?"

"No, I'm just going to go out for a flight. I'll be back in approximately ten minutes."

And with that, Astro let himself slip off the window and dived down the building.

He enjoyed the rush of wind that followed the excitement of being able to defy gravity. He spread out his arms and soared upwards toward the clear, star-filled night sky, gaining altitude at an amazing speed. He stopped and hovered once he was happy with the height he was at. He closed his eyes and let the gentle evening breeze blow against his synthetic skin. The calming silence of the night relaxed him, for keeping the city safe from crime is no easy task. It often stressed him out when dealing with certain criminals, a majority of which were "anti-robot" members. He was getting used to the "you're just a robot" line thrown at him every now and then, but it still upset him when he thought about it deeply. He needed someone to talk to who wasn't another robot, and with his father and his friends out of the question, he found himself feeling rather alone. Dr Elefun wasn't an option either, for he was helping Dr Tenma with his task. _Oh well,_ he thought, _it doesn't hurt to wait._ He opened his eyes once again and decided to make a quick fly through the streets to be sure that nothing was out of the ordinary. It always made him feel better when the citizens of the city screamed his name as he flew by, because he knew that they looked up to him and he knew that they would be there for him. Just as he was about to make his way back home, several flashing police sirens caught his eye, and he flew down to see what the hubbub was about.

"Is everything ok over here?" he asked one of the officers.

"Oh, hey, Astro!" the officer replied cheerily. "You're probably wondering about the situation as well, huh?"

"You bet I am!"

"Unfortunately, I don't really know much about this so far, so you might want to go ahead and talk to the detective over there."

"Thanks!"

Astro smiled and walked over to where the officer was pointing. He stepped under the tape and found a tall man with a pretty large nose and moustache. He was wearing a long trench coat and fedora, and was busy righting who-knows-what on his notepad.

"Excuse me, sir?" Astro asked him, guessing that he was the detective.

"Yes, what is it?" the man replied, not looking away from his notes.

"Do you think you can tell me what's going on?"

He stopped writing and looked down at Astro, giving the boy robot a look that made him feel uncomfortable.

"This case is none of your concern, _robot."_

Astro was stunned that the detective addressed him like that. One of the officers walked over and tried to reason with the man.

"Detective Towashi, sir, I think you should consider letting Astro know about this; having saved the city numerous times, he could be a big help."

_Huh, so _that's_ your name,_ Astro thought.

"I know what he did for the city, but he's nothing but a robot. He's not worthy of a case we haven't even solved yet."

"A case you haven't solved yet? Could you at least tell me what happened?" Astro butted in impatiently.

"Fine, if it's going to stop you asking questions. Earlier this evening, a young boy of about seven years of age was sighted wandering down this ally-way and hasn't been seen or heard of since."

"That's awful!"

"I know, and something that really bugs me is that the boy left something pretty interesting behind. You can go check it out if you want."

Towashi began writing notes again, so Astro decided to check the ally out. It felt dark and cold, as if something was watching Astro's every move. He wondered why none of the officers were down there investigating. _Are they afraid of something?_ he thought. It suddenly got so dark to the point where he had to turn his eye-lights on. Scanning the area for anything unusual, he couldn't see anything until he trod on something. He stepped back a bit, moved his eyes to where the object was and gasped at what he saw. There, lying on the ground, were several robot parts arranged in the most peculiar way, almost like it was lettering in a different language. No wonder they couldn't figure anything out. He made his way back to the officers and told them what he saw to make sure that he wasn't the only one.

"You sure that kind of pattern isn't in your database or something?" one of them asked.

"I'm sure. I've never seen anything like it before!" Astro replied. "Anyway, I need to get home, Orrin will be wondering where I am."

And with that, Astro activated his rocket boots and took off, leaving a large trail of smoke behind that left the officers coughing and waving their hands about like lunatics.

"Ah! There you are, Astro!" cried Orrin as Astro landed back inside.

"I'm going to call it a night for now. See you in the morning, Orrin." Astro replied, trying to sound sleepy.

"Alright then. Good night, Astro."

Astro made his way to his room and made sure Orrin wasn't following him. Before he got into bed his turned on his holo-computer and decided to do a little research.

"Ok, let's see if anything comes up with 'ancient robotic languages'."

He scrolled through sites and images but he couldn't find anything useful.

"Hmm, what about… 'robots in history'?"

He typed that in the search bar, but he ended up with the same result – nothing. He spent at least an hour searching with nothing good to store in his memories before he finally gave up and went to bed. He flopped onto the soft mattress and stared at the ceiling. He listened to the car honks and traffic robots giving commands down below. With his intensified hearing he could practically hear what people were saying from inside their cars, and two voices in particular made him shoot over to the window.

It was Dr Tenma and Elefun.


	2. Chapter 2 - An Unusual Assignment

**Chapter Two – An Unusual Assignment**

The morning light poured in on Astro as he lay in his bed, dreaming whatever robots dream about. He slowly opened his eyes, focusing on the person who sat waiting at the end of his bed.

"Dad!" Astro cried, and he leapt up to hug his father.

"Good morning, Astro! I'm sorry I've been gone for a while. How are you?" Dr Tenma asked, hugging his robotic son back.

"I'm good, and I know you have important business to take care of at the Ministry. Speaking of which, what was it you had to do?"

"I'm glad you brought that up. Elefun and I received an important call a few days ago about something the ISRB discovered."

"ISRB?"

"The Intergalactic Science Research Base."

"Cool!"

"Yes, and they specifically asked me to bring you along to the base."

"Wait what?!"

"I'm not sure what exactly it is they found, but they need you to assist them with some apparent difficulties they are experiencing."

"Ok, I guess. Where about is the ISRB?"

"It's on a remote island several miles away from Metro City."

"Wow! I'll actually be going overseas!"

Dr Tenma nodded with a smile and instructed Astro to get ready. When he left the room, the young robot raced over to his wardrobe and began looking through his clothes. Last night he slept with just his black shorts and red boots that were a part of him. _Just another disadvantage of being a robot,_ he thought with a sigh. He picked out a black t-shirt with a blue stripe pattern down the side and his ordinary blue-grey jeans. Before he closed his wardrobe, he glanced over at the red hat that was lying on the bottom and sighed. He flashbacked to the day that Dr Tenma had told him to go to his room after he said that he didn't even like the hat. He shut the wardrobe door shut and walked out to the kitchen where he found his father eating breakfast.

"Good morning, Astro. Did you sleep well?"

"Morning, Orrin! Yeah, I slept fine," Astro replied with a smile.

Dr Tenma put his spoon to rest in his empty cereal bowl and asked Astro if he was ready.

"Yes, sir!" Astro cried.

"Alright then, let's get going," Dr Tenma replied.

Astro gasped in amazement when he set foot outside the plane that had taken his father and him to the ISRB. The island was flourishing with greenery, which surprised Astro since this was a research base. Beyond the trees and bushes he spotted the ISRB itself in all its glory. It was a humongous dome-looking building with other smaller buildings connected to it by what seemed like gigantic glass walkways. Before his father could even say anything, Astro began racing over to the entrance on foot and waited for the tour guide that was going to lead Astro and his father around the research areas.

"Didn't I ever tell you to not rush ahead?" asked Dr Tenma once he had caught up with Astro.

"Sorry, I just couldn't help myself," the young robot boy replied.

The large glass doors to the entrance slid open and out stepped the tour guide, who was wearing what looked to be some kind of greyish-brownish uniform.

"Welcome to the ISRB, Astro, Dr Tenma," he said with a smile.

Astro was practically bouncing up and down in excitement; he couldn't wait to see what kind of cool gadgets and machines were inside. The tour guide allowed them through the doors and led them towards the centre of the reception room. The rounded metallic walls were lined with incredible and unusual displays that were found from many different parts of space.

"Alright, now we will be moving onto the first research floor. If you would please make your way to the doors over here then we can proceed," said the tour guide again.

He led them into a large elevator that reached every level of the main building and motioned them inside. Once it had reached their destined floor they were greeted by the head of the project that Astro had been assigned to.

"Ah, so you're the famous Astro! My name is Dr Collards, and I'll be in charge of your assignment," said a tall man in the typical white lab coat. He had brown hair with small hints of blonde and he had dark green eyes that looked almost black.

"Well, I wouldn't call myself _that_ famous," replied Astro, rubbing the back of his neck and shrugging his shoulders.

"Don't you know that you're starting to make headlines worldwide now?"

"I am?!"

"Of course you are!"

"Whoa… Anyway, what's the task I've been assigned?"

"Ah, yes. Follow me, I'll explain while we walk."

Astro remained beside Dr Collards as he made his way past a lot of meteor remains that were being carefully studied. Dr Tenma stayed with the tour guide to see the rest of the building.

"A few weeks ago we discovered something from the far corners of space. At first we believed it to be an alien, but resent studies show signs of human DNA. Many tutors have been assigned to teach and look after her, but none have been very successful."

"Her?"

"Yes, you'll understand everything a lot clearer once you meet her. We've been trying to get her to tell us what happened to her before we found her, but all we got out of her was her name and some of her personality traits. Her name is Aurora, and she's the same age as you too."

"And I've been assigned as her next tutor?"

"Correct. Knowing your kindness, we are hoping that you'll be able to get her to open up about her past. There's just one other problem with _you_ being her tutor, though…"

"What's that?"

"Well…it's the fact that you're a robot."

They stopped at another set of doors that led to a smaller room, and from inside Astro could hear voices.

"Will she know me?"

"I'm afraid not. She refuses to watch the news or anything from the outside world."

"Why not?"

"She says she's afraid, we don't know why, though."

"So, what's the problem with me being a robot?"

"She doesn't exactly like robots so much, and that's the thing we would like to know most about."

The voices from inside the room went quiet, and a stern-looking woman exited in a huff. Dr Collards spoke softly to someone else in the room who was purposely staying out of sight.

"Come on out, Aurora. Your new tutor, Astro, is here."

A young female voice cried back in defence.

"No, he'll only laugh like all the other tutors!"

Since he was her new tutor, Astro decided to try and get her to come out himself.

"Why would I laugh at you?"

"You haven't told him much about me, have you, Doctor?" she spoke to Dr Collards.

"No, I thought it might be best if he sees for himself rather than me telling him."

"I won't laugh, I promise! I'm sure we'll get along really well," Astro said, hoping to make whoever was hiding feel better.

The girl sighed, placed a foot in sight and gradually stepped into view. Astro continued speaking to make her feel more confident.

"After all, we're both the same age and I'm a really nice p-tg-uh…" he stuttered and began blushing furiously when he saw her face. She had long, dark brown hair that reached down to her hips and she had a long fringe that was gracefully brushed upwards out of her face. She also had stunning emerald green eyes and she stood at the same height as Astro. But the one thing that Astro was most amazed by was the fact that she had large bat ears the same colour as her hair and she had a pair of dark grey bat wings on her back, too. She even had a tiny tail to match. Astro shook his head and did his best not to stare – not out of bewilderment by her features, but in amazement of her beauty.

"I'm a bat cross-species, alright?" she said unexpectedly.

_Wow,_ Astro thought.

"Now, since Astro here is a robot he'll be able to-"

"WHAT?! YOU DIDN'T SAY ANYTHING ABOUT A ROBOT BEING MY TUTOR!" she yelled, and stepped back from Astro in fear.

"Calm down, he's not what you think."

"I don't care! They're all the same and there's no changing that!"

Astro stepped forward and tried to calm her down.

"Aurora, I won't hurt you, I promise."

Her eyes widened in pure terror and she stepped back until she was up against the wall.

"Stay away from me!"

She ran past Astro and kept running until she was out of sight.

"AURORA!" Astro called after her, but he got no response.

"Follow her, Astro. We need to find out why she's so afraid of robots," Dr Collards instructed Astro. The robot nodded in response and ran after the runaway bat cross-species.


	3. Chapter 3 - Getting to Know You

**Chapter Three – Getting to Know You**

Aurora sat down on the edge of one of the big balconies on the main building with a heavy sigh. She let her legs dangle over the edge as she stared out to the sun setting over sea. She couldn't believe they'd gotten a robot as her tutor, and especially after what those machines did to her… She shook herself of those horrible memories and listened to the birds chirping instead. She closed her eyes as the gentle afternoon breeze whistled in her hair, making it flow gracefully in the wind. She nearly leapt off the edge when Astro asked if she was ok out of the blue.

"Oh my gosh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to startle you," Astro said with an apologetic look on his face.

"Why did you follow me out here?" Aurora replied, her voice a little shaky in the robot's presence.

"I'm worried about you. I didn't know that you'd be so afraid of me."

"You'd never understand anyway even if I told you. You're just a heartless, soulless machine."

Astro didn't know what to say back to that. Instead of pushing her to say why she was afraid, he started talking about her lessons instead.

"So, what sort of things have you learned so far?"

"Well, besides the English language and some basic math equations, pretty much nothing."

"Were all your other tutors really that bad?"

"You bet they were. They either always yelled or laughed at me. They kept saying I wasn't smart enough to learn the basics of every topic or that I looked really funny. They talked about me behind their backs and didn't really teach me much. Dr Collards wants me to learn how to defend myself in a fight, which is probably why they assigned you to be my next tutor."

Astro nodded in agreement. _Ok, so far so good,_ he thought.

"I was modelled after a thirteen-year old boy named Toby. He died in a tragic accident at the Ministry of Science in Metro City."

Aurora's eyes widened when Astro started talking about his apparent counterpart. She didn't think that he would actually have a past.

"My father went a little crazy and didn't eat or sleep for days when Toby died. That was when I was built. I was meant to be a replacement for Toby, with the most advanced defence systems ever created. When I was activated, I didn't even know I was a robot, for I was programed with every memory from Toby. Things were a little weird at first because everyone was acting so strange around me. My dad got mad at me after I tested Leonardo Da Vinci's theories from the books he had given me to read. It was the first time he'd ever told me to go to my room, but if he hadn't, I wouldn't have experienced the first sign of being a robot. I was sitting on my bed staring at a photo of Toby and my dad standing next to a trophy, and that was when two window-cleaning robots started joking about my hairstyle. I was completely shocked when I found out I could understand them. I walked over to the window and opened it, grabbing one of them to stop them from going away. Boy, what a mistake that was."

"What happened?"

"My feet were centimetres away from slipping off the edge, so I asked the robot I was holding onto to backup carefully. I couldn't tell if he did it on purpose or by accident, but he sprayed some of the cleaning liquid in my face, making me let go. I plunged to my death, covering my face with my hands as I fell. But when I took away my hands and opened my eyes, I found out I could do this!"

Astro jumped in the air and activated his rocket boots. He hovered several feet in the air and waited for a reaction from Aurora.

"Y-you can f-fly?" she stuttered.

"Yep!"

"Oh…"

Astro wondered why she seemed a little depressed at the fact that he could fly. He deactivated his rocket boots and landed back on the balcony to continue his story.

"Anyway, after getting used to flying and finding out I could draw my way through solid rock in the process, I couldn't wait to show dad, so I flew back home. But when I got there, I arrived at a scene that would scar me for life. Dr Elefun was there talking about me with my dad, and he was saying that he wanted me deactivated because it reminded him that Toby was gone for good. I walked in and asked what was going on, and that was when my dad told me I was just a robot copy of his son. He said that he didn't want me anymore and that I wasn't his son. In my frustration I flew off with the pain that now didn't ever leave me. I sat on a nearby building and looked at my hands with my eye-lights. I couldn't believe that I actually was a robot, and that was when the trouble started."

"Trouble?"

"Yeah. Metro City's former President Stone sent soldiers to capture me and have me deactivated. I was able to out-fly them for a while, but then the Spirit of Freedom, one of the military aircrafts, tagged me directly with its missiles. I was knocked back onto a building and struggled to get up, but doing so only resulted in getting hit by the missiles again and again, eventually knocking me unconscious. I fell towards the Surface and landed on a tall scrap heap until morning came."

"Wait, the Surface?"

"Oh yeah, I forgot you didn't know about the city. It was suspended in the air because of pollution that was infecting the forests and rivers. The place Metro City left behind was soon known as the Surface, and people that lived there had to scavenge for old food and robot parts. President Stone was bent on starting a war with the Surface dwellers with a robot called the Peacekeeper, but I'll get to that later. So anyway, I woke up on the scrap heap where a bunch of old but still functioning robots began surrounding me, begging for new batteries and parts. An incoming pile of more robot parts fell on top of the scrap heap, making me fall to the bottom. That was when I met Trashcan, a friendly robot dog. He told me that someone was in trouble and beckoned me to follow. He led me to a massively deep hole and promptly pushed me in. But instead of falling to the bottom, I fell in a net that was cleverly camouflaged in the darkness. A contraption lifted me back up and a bunch of kids ran towards the net I was in. They pulled the net off me and yelled at Trashcan, saying that they wanted robots and not kids. Hearing this I decided not to tell them that I was a robot. They told me each of their names which were Zane, Widget, Sludge and Cora. I was just about to say that Toby was my name when three robots grabbed me and took me to their "secret hideout". They called themselves the Robot Revolutionary Front, and they said that they were dedicated to freeing robot kind from human slavery by any means necessary. It was then they gave me the name Astro, and they also told me about their plan to overthrow a guy called Hamegg."

"What was their plan?"

Astro began giggling before he answered.

"They were planning to tickle him with a feather!"

Aurora began laughing along with Astro.

"Were they being serious?!"

"Yeah, they were! They weren't the brightest of robots but they had good intentions. They said that they still followed the laws of robotics."

"So much for 'any means necessary'!"

"I know, right? Anyway, Cora and the others suddenly burst in and pinned the robots down saying that they just wanted me back. I assured the robots that I would be fine so they let me leave. Cora and the others had become my new friends, and they showed me where they lived down on the Surface. Apparently they lived with Hamegg who ran a robot body repair shop. The building acted as an orphanage, because all the kids that lived there had no parents. Hamegg told me that he was from Metro City too, but he was fired from the Ministry of Science by my father. The next day, Cora and the others took me out to find more robot parts for Hamegg. They told me that he made cool robots to enter into Hamegg's Robot Games. It was a tradition down on the Surface, but I had no idea that the robots in the games fought to the death. I found a large construction robot called Zog, and I managed to get it running without my friends knowing that I was a robot. We brought it back to the workshop where we cleaned it up and gave it a pretty awesome paintjob. That night I found Cora trying to call Metro City with an old phone she found. I managed to get a signal for her, and after she couldn't get a hold of anyone, that's when I found out that she was from Metro City too, and she's been trying to call her parents ever since. I reassured her by saying that everyone has secrets, and I promised her I wouldn't tell anyone. I tried telling her that I was a robot but I just couldn't do it. Instead I ended up saying I really liked being there with her and the others."

"So you really couldn't tell her what you were?"

"Yeah. I wanted to kick myself for not telling the truth, but they would soon find out anyway. The next day was the robot games, and we were all sitting on Zog's shoulders and arms as he marched to the stadium. Cora told me that the robots fight until one of them was destroyed, and I felt sorry for bringing Zog back to life, not knowing he could get seriously injured. When Zog was in place backstage, we all started walking to our seats with Hamegg, and that was when Hamegg showed his true colours. He said that he still liked robots, but at the end of the day they were just junk waiting to happen. He then started talking about the advanced robots from Metro City, which made me start to worry a bit. He said that they didn't have real emotions, and that was when he pulled out some kind of electrocuting tool from his cloak and fired it at me. I collapsed to the ground and watched the shocked faces of my friends as Hamegg told them I was a robot. After that I blacked out and woke up in the middle of the stadium."

"You mean, he actually put you in the Robot Games?!"

"Yup. He began making false statements about things I said about robots from the Surface, and he then sent out the first robot which had spinning saws on its hands. I said I wasn't going to fight, but the robot didn't give me a choice and started attacking. I tried flying out of the arena but there was and electrical force field stopping me from escaping. I fell to the ground and had to quickly get up if I wanted to stay alive. I then got underneath the robot and lifted it up to the force field, using that to destroy its head."

"Nice thinking."

"Thanks. Hamegg continued to send robots out but I destroyed every single one of them. It was then I had only one robot left to fight."

"Oh my gosh…"

"Yep, Hamegg was about to make me fight Zog. I said that I was NOT fighting him and held my ground. He started making his way towards me but I kept still. He reached his hand down towards me and a braced for a world of hurt, but instead he rubbed my head in a friendly way and lifted me up in victory."

Astro looked up to the sky and saw that it was already dark. _I better make this quick or it'll get too late, _he thought.

"Hamegg pulled out his electrocuter-thingy again and used it on Zog, making him drop me. Hamegg did the same thing while I was in mid-air, and I landed with a thud on the ground. He kept shocking me until Zog managed to make him lose his footing. He lifted his foot up over Hamegg, threatening to crush him. Hamegg reminded Zog of the laws of robotics, but Zog told him that he was old-school and brought his foot crashing down. The crowd looked away in horror, but when they looked again, they saw me holding Zog's foot up before it crushed Hamegg."

Aurora gasped.

"So you still saved him even after what he did to you?"

"I couldn't just let him die. He didn't deserve that kind of punishment. Zog moved his foot back down to ground as the Spirit of Freedom landed in the middle of the arena. Soldiers began pouring out along with the President and surrounded me. Zog tried to stop them but I told him it was ok."

"So you just turned yourself in?"

"Yeah. I lost my friends and my father didn't want me, so I figured I had nothing else to lose. I was brought back to the lab where I was created, and now I was about to be deactivated. Dr Tenma and Dr Elefun were waiting for me to lie down on the bench. My father slowly approached me and lifted up my shirt where a panel was. He opened it and hesitated, looking at me. With a smile I nodded, and he deactivated me. He said he was sorry, and I replied by saying I'm sorry I couldn't have been a better Toby for him."

Astro noticed Aurora's eyes beginning to water, so he tried not to make it sound too heartbreaking.

"I'm not sure what happened after I blacked out, but I remember waking up with my dad standing over me. I asked him what he was doing, and he said although I wasn't Toby, I was still his son. I remember seeing an angry President Stone striding towards us, so my dad told me to fly. I broke out of the roof of the Ministry of Science and made my way out of Metro City to see my friends. Along the way I ran into the two cleaning robots again and told them I was a robot just like them. While we were talking, we heard explosions coming from the city. I flew back to investigate and was shocked to find a super-sized Peacekeeper destroying the city. We fought for quite a while, and during that time period I found out that I actually had weapons."

He activated his arm cannons to show Aurora.

"Whoa," she said, wide-eyed.

He deactivated them and then continued.

"Not only do I have those arm cannons, but I also have…"

"Have what?"

"…I have machine guns in my butt…"

She tried to keep herself from laughing but she couldn't resist the urge to let out a small giggle.

"Yeah, I know it sounds funny, but they actually helped me escape from the Peacekeeper's grasp. I was like, 'I got machine guns…in my butt?!'"

They both started laughing and didn't stop until Dr Collards came out.

"Come on, you two. It's getting late."

"But I want to hear the end of Astro's story!" Aurora protested.

"You can finish talking tomorrow morning when your lessons begin. It's good to see that you are both getting along with each other, though."

Astro smiled at Aurora, but she didn't smile back. It was as if she remembered that he was a robot and didn't want to admit that she was growing fond of him. She looked at the ground and walked back inside. Astro's smile faded as he watched her walk off.

"Come along. I'll show you to your room," said Dr Collards.

The next morning, Astro couldn't get out of bed quick enough. He couldn't wait to see Aurora again and tell her how he defeated the Peacekeeper. He wondered if he should even bother putting his t-shirt and jeans on, since Dr Collards told him he would begin teaching her certain skills in a fight. He decided to go as he was and he exited his room. _Oh well, I'm usually dressed like this anyway,_ he thought as he raced down the hallway. When he reached the room where Aurora's lessons would begin – a giant room filled with training equipment like a gymnasium – she was already there waiting for him. She seemed surprised to see him with nothing but his boots and shorts, but she didn't say anything. Instead she greeted him with a simple "hi" and waited for her lesson to begin.

"Alright, Astro. The first thing you'll be teaching her is balance. There is a machine just over there that acts like a surfboard when in the ocean. It's proved itself to be quite useful in the past. Miss Hawk will operate it for you when you're ready," Dr Collards instructed, point to a large, transparent, cylindrical machine in the corner of the room. A woman standing just beside the machine, who Astro suspected was Miss Hawk, smiled and waved in their direction.

"Ok, are you ready?" Astro asked Aurora.

"I guess," she replied, a little depressed. Astro thought this wasn't the best time to continue with his story, so he just got on with the lesson. He never really took note of what Aurora was wearing, but he knew she was wearing the same clothes from yesterday, which consisted of light blue hot pants, a light blue mid-drift tank top and light blue arm-length gloves that didn't have any material covering her hands, except on the back of her hands where the gloves ended in a point. They both made their way over to the machine and proceeded inside. Astro gave the signal to Miss Hawk and she started it up. The flooring of the machine rose up a couple of feet and began rolling around just like a surfboard.

"Ok, keep your arms out and lean in with the tilt, just not too much or you'll-" Astro started, but it was too late. Aurora leaned in too much, lost her footing and fell forwards onto Astro's right arm, knocking him over too. Aurora fell onto her back, and since she knocked Astro's arm it made him do a one-hundred and eighty degree spin, resulting in him falling on top of her. Miss Hawk turned the machine off and waited for the two of them to stand back up. Astro managed to keep himself from completely flattening her, but as he slowly rose up and his gaze met with hers, he began blushing furiously again. He soon snapped out of his trance and got off of her, rubbing the back of his head and smiling nervously, trying not to look at her. She sat up slowly and waited for Astro to say something. There was a long, awkward pause before either of them spoke. They each began to apologize in unison which made Astro blush even more.

"W-why don't we just, um, c-continue with the lesson?" Aurora asked.

"Yeah, uh, s-sure," Astro replied nervously.

When the lesson was over, Aurora made her way back out to the same balcony when Astro wasn't looking, but he knew where to find her, so she only got a few minutes alone. She didn't notice him walk out to where she was, though. He was just about to say something when she started _singing_.

"Now let they day, just slip away, so the dark night may watch over you. Velvet blue, silent true, it embraces your heart and, your soul…Nocturne.

Never cry, never sigh, you don't have to wonder why, always be, always see, come and dream the night with me…Nocturne.

Have no fear, when the night draws near, and fills you with dreams and, desire, like a child asleep, so warm, so deep, you will find me there waiting, for you…Nocturne.

We will fly, claim the sky, we don't have to wonder why. Always be, always see, come and dream the night with me…Nocturne.

Though darkness fades, it will give way, when the dark night delivers the day…Nocturne."

"Wow…" said Astro.

Aurora gasped and turned towards him.

"Y-you weren't supposed to hear that…"

"Sorry, but I just couldn't resist listening. You have the most beautiful voice I've ever heard! You were like an angel singing that song."

She blushed lightly before replying.

"T-thank you. Almost every night I come out here and sing to myself to ease off the stress of everyday life…and to rid myself of the memories I once lived."

"Memories?"

She let out a heavy sigh before she spoke.

"A past for a past," was all she said.

"Huh?" Astro replied, confused.

"You told me yours, so I figured I should tell you mine."

She sat on the edge of the balcony along with Astro.

"It all started when I was just a week old. I was kidnapped by an alien race known as the Uzaynes. They killed my parents in the process and took me back to their planet where I was injected with bat DNA, just for their measly little experiments. Over time, as I grew, I started to develop my bat-like features, and eventually became a full bat cross-species. The reason why I'm so afraid of robots is because…because the hundreds of them that were on that planet were ordered to mistreat and abuse me in every way possible."

She began to get all teary, but she held back her sadness so she could keep talking. She pulled down the glove on her right arm and revealed a huge scar down the side. Astro gasped in shock.

"This is what one of those things did to me. It cut a huge gash in my arm as I tried to get away. When it finally left me alone, I found a piece of old material and wrapped it around the wound, but since it wasn't properly treated, it got infected several times and eventually scarred. There was only one person there who seemed to be my friend. His name was Rendou, and he was the only one who was ever kind to me."

"Was he a robot?"

"Mmhmm. Although he was afraid to stand up for me, he still treated my wounds, scratches and bruises, and he always kept my hopes up. But then came that one fateful day. He and a bunch of other robots began beating me up without mercy, and when I cried for his help, he just laughed and told me that the kindness he was showing me was all fake. I also found out that he was the one who made me into this…_hideous_ thing…"

She buried her face in her hands and began sobbing uncontrollably. Astro was on the merge of tears himself, but he tried his best to reassure her.

"I don't think you look hideous," he began.

"Y-you don't?"

"No. I think you look rather beautiful…"

His eyes shot open when he realised what he just said. He hoped that she didn't pick up that he'd developed a serious crush on her.

"Uhm, that is- I mean-!"

"Thank you," she said, smiling as she glanced up at him.

He began blushing a deep red as he rubbed the back of his head again. Aurora continued the tale of her past.

"Anyway, after I gained the courage to get up again, I made my way out of the facility I was in and headed round to the back. I sat down on a rock and gazed at the hazy horizon, wondering if anyone would come for me. Before Rendou betrayed me, I was reading a bunch of books that held lots of different prophecies and legends. The one prophecy that caught my eye was still yet to occur, and it was called 'The Bearer of the Blue Core'."

Astro froze at the mention of the blue core, of which he hadn't told her about yet.

"There was a cave not far from the facility that held a stone that contained two very powerful sources. The prophecy I read spoke about the rock leaving the planet and landing somewhere else; I considered myself very lucky to see it fly off."

"You saw the meteor?"

"Yeah. It was the one thing that I had left to believe in. The meteor not only contained the blue core, which consisted entirely of positive energy, but it also contained the red core, which was nothing but pure negative energy. The Uzaynes wanted to use the blue core to power their most powerful weaponry and robots, but since the rock was impenetrable at the time, they couldn't extract it."

"So they didn't want the red core?"

"They know a highly unstable and uncontrollable power source when they see one. I don't know where the meteor is or if it even landed, but it gave me the courage to find an escape pod on one of their spaceships and escape the planet that way. I travelled in space for a few days before I crash-landed back here, where Dr Collards found me and took me in."

"So, what of this 'Bearer of the Blue Core'?"

"The prophecy said that a great and powerful being were to take control of the blue core and use it for good. The only problem is that the Uzaynes didn't want someone from another planet to find the blue core, so they sent Gruttoy, a giant one-eyed orange alien, to seek out and destroy the place where the blue core came to rest."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, hold the phone! Did you say a giant one-eyed orange alien?"

"Yeah, why?"

"That thing attacked Metro City about a month ago!"

"WHAT?! Then that means the Bearer of the Blue Core has risen! It's been my lifelong dream to meet the one who can save us all! Do you know who he is? Where he is? Wait, what happened to Gruttoy?"

"Well, I, uh…I defeated him."

"YOU defeated him?!"

"Well, I DO have powerful arm cannons, rocket boots and super-strength,"

"I guess that's true."

"And I haven't told you the end of my story yet, either."

"Oh yeah! You were fighting the Peacekeeper. So, how did you defeat him?"

"Well, first I want to show something. Just don't freak out, ok?"

Aurora nodded and waited for Astro to show her whatever it was he wanted her to see. Astro moved his hand to his chest and pressed against the panel in order to open it up, revealing the blue core. Aurora's jaw dropped and her eyes widened to their full extent.

"I-is that what I think it is…?"

"Yup, this is the blue core."

There was a long pause while she stared at it, her face still wearing the same expression. She slowly allowed her gaze to meet with his for a few seconds, and then she jumped up and screamed with joy.

"OH MY GOSH OH MY GOSH OH MY GOSH OH MY GOSH OH MY GOSH!" she cried, hugging him as tightly as she could. Astro just stood there, not sure how to react. "I can't believe that you're the Bearer of the Blue Core! The prophecy didn't say anything about it being a robot but, I'll take it!"

Astro smiled and returned the hug, wrapping his arms around her waist. They remained that way for quite a while until Aurora finally let go of him.

"Wait, what about the red core?!"

"Don't worry, the red core is gone."

"What? But that's impossible! The cores can only be destroyed by…each other!"

"That's why I should tell you how I defeated the Peacekeeper. He was powered by the red core, which grew bigger every time he absorbed something. He was almost as tall as a building, and was right on the merge of destroying me when Cora and the others grabbed and pulled me into their car. We flew away from the Peacekeeper, but he ran into the city's power plant as he chased us, resulting in shutting all the power down; including the machinery that held Metro City in the air. I flew out of the car to attempt to prevent the city from falling apart. I positioned myself under the city and gave it all I had to slow down its decent. I successfully landed the city safely on the ground and drilled my way back up to deal with the Peacekeeper again. After a few minutes of fighting, the giant claw that he used to obtain the cores grabbed a hold of me, and I couldn't move. It began to drag me into the red core, but we both shot back since the two cores couldn't come together. I landed in a nearby skyscraper where my dad found me and told me what would happen if the cores came together. As we were about to head into my dad's car, I heard the cries of Widget some way away, so I rushed over to the edge of the shattered building to see what the matter was. The Peacekeeper had the car that they were in in his grasp, and was shaking them about violently. I told my father that this was what I was created for, and so I flew over to the Peacekeeper and headed directly for the red core, shooting straight into it."

"But, how are you still alive? The blue core should've died along with the red core."

Astro nodded.

"The blue core _did_ die along with the red one, but I guess that was one of those situations where things happen for a reason. Trashcan found my body lying outside the city, and so everyone flooded over to see if I was alright. My shoulder was dislocated and torn, and the blue core was still and lifeless. It just so happened that Zog could spare some of the energy I gave him to revive me. All was happy and Metro City praised me for saving everyone, and that was when Gruttoy attacked."

"Man, talk about timing," she said with a chuckle.

"Yeah."

The two of them gazed into each other's eyes for a while, slowly leaning toward each other. Aurora looked down at her feet when they got awkwardly close, and said they should call it a night. Astro hugged her and walked her back to her room.


	4. Chapter 4 - A New Life

**Chapter Four – A New Life**

Each day Astro taught Aurora everything that her past tutors couldn't. Things like combat, stealth skills, history, English, maths and anything else he could think of. Today he was supposed to teach her aerial combat and manoeuvres, but she hadn't been seen all day. He searched the research labs, lecture room, think tank; she wasn't even on the balcony. He sat on the edge of the railings and sighed. It had been all day and it was starting to get dark, and he was beginning to worry about her. Just as he was about to go back inside, he finally caught sight of her heading towards the old gazebo in the gardens. He jumped down and activated his rocket boots to catch up with her.

"Aurora!" he called out.

She turned towards him and replied, "Just leave me alone."

"Come on, Aurora. What's wrong? Everyone's worried about you."

She turned away from him and continued walking up to the gazebo. She sat down on the bench that was inside and looked up to the sky as Astro came and sat beside her.

"You want to know why I didn't show up for the lesson, don't you?"

"Of course I do."

There was a long pause before she answered, and she ruffled her wings as she spoke.

"I can't fly, alright? Those stupid Uzaynes didn't teach me anything."

"…I'm sorry."

"That's why I wasn't so impressed when you showed me that you could fly. It just reminded me of how I desperately tried every day to take to the air. I'll never know what it's like."

Astro thought for a moment before he replied.

"I may not have wings, but I still know a lot about aero dynamics. I could teach you if you want."

"Really? You'll actually try and teach me how to fly?"

Astro smiled and nodded, holding out his arm.

"Wings are almost complete replicas of the human arm. Hold out your arm and wing at the same time and compare the two."

She did as asked and gasped at the similarities: the elbow joint, the fingers, the thumb, pretty much everything.

"Now rotate your arms in a motion of what feels like what it would be in the air."

She began slowly flapping and rotating her arms in a circular motion, and then made her wings do the same.

"Good!"

"Now what?"

Astro got up off the seat and beckoned her to follow him outside the gazebo.

"Climb onto my back and wrap your arms around my neck."

She threw him an 'are you serious' look as he faced his back towards her. He nodded and he waited for her to climb on. She walked over to him with a single eyebrow raised and did as told.

"Are you ready?"

"I think so."

"Ok, here we go!"

Astro took off at an amazing speed that left Aurora screaming and hanging on for dear life. He flew straight up towards the clouds and weaved in and out between them. He slowed down to a cruising speed so Aurora could reach down and touch one of the light, fluffy clouds.

"How does it feel to be way up here?" he asked her.

"Simply amazing!" she cried with delight.

Astro turned towards the slowly sinking sun and dived back beneath the clouds. For the first time in her life, Aurora could finally feel the weightlessness of flying, and she begged Astro to fly faster. He increased his speed and dove towards the sea, just inches away from its splashing waters. Aurora began laughing out of pure enjoyment as she reached a hand into the ocean. Astro started ascending again and slowed down once he levelled out.

"Why are we slowing down?"

"Close your eyes. I want you to get a good feel of the air currents and the direction of the wind."

She did as instructed and smiled as she felt the cooling wind blowing against her face and through her hair. Astro slowly grabbed her hands, pulled them away from his neck and extended both his and her arms so they were outstretched like wings.

"Now slowly open your wings, but keep them as flat as possible."

She began stretching out her wings and opened her eyes.

"Whoa!" she exclaimed.

"Do you feel that sudden lift?"

"Yeah!"

"Ok, now concentrate on one wing at a time for about ten seconds."

She looked to her right wing and studied the way the wind felt on it, and then did the same with her left wing. She was too busy looking at them to not notice Astro slowly letting go of her hands and leaving her suspended in the air. He pulled his body away from hers and waited until she realized.

"AHH! ASTRO!" she cried, completely terrified that she was about to plummet.

"Calm down, Aurora. You're flying!"

She looked back to her wings and then to the ground below her, and sure enough, she was flying all by herself. She began laughing with glee, but her smile soon faded when she realized she was losing momentum, and fast. Too frighted to move, she consulted Astro for help.

"Just remember when you rotated your arms and wings at the same time back at the gazebo. Do the same thing right now!"

She raised her wings up and then brought them back down, slightly rotating them as she did so. She repeated the pattern over and over until she was confident enough to start doing all sorts of aerial tricks. The pair of them began laughing and shouting with joy, making daring dives down at the ISRB building and then back up to the clouds.

They were in the air for hours on end, even after the sun had long gone. They both began flying towards each other until there were close enough for their hands to intertwine, and they spun around and around when they locked hands. When they stopped completely and were just merely hovering, they gazed into each other's eyes for quite some time.

"Thank you, Astro. None of this would have been possible without you," she said.

"You're welcome," he replied softly.

Without realizing it, they both gradually leaned toward each other until their foreheads met. They closed their eyes and leaned in more until they were a lip's distance away, and then suddenly a voice called out to them from below. They immediately let go of each other and looked down at Dr Collards.

"Come inside now, you two! It's almost midnight!" he yelled at the top of his voice.

"Ok! We're coming!" Astro called back. He looked back at Aurora and smiled. "I guess we should go before he does something crazy," he said to her with a chuckle.

"Yeah, hahaha!" she replied.

They both dived towards the balcony and landed safely back down. Astro took hold of her hand and walked her back to her room again. Once they stopped at her door, she let go of his hand and lightly pecked him on the cheek, leaving the young robot blushing pure red and staring straight ahead. As the door opened and closed, Astro gently put a hand on his cheek and smiled. He turned and practically skipped his way to his own room – he had never felt this happy before. He entered his room and lay down the bed with a happy sigh. He closed his eyes and silently drifted off, thinking of nothing besides Aurora.

As the gentle morning light poured in through Astro's window, making him open his eyes, he was stunned to find Aurora sitting on the end of his bed.

"Aurora?! What are you doing here?"

"I woke up at like, five this morning and I got a little lonely, so I made my way here."

"And you've been watching me sleep this whole time?"

"You got it."

She put a hand to her mouth and began giggling tremendously. Astro chuckled with her, but his smile quickly disappeared when she let out a long, heavy sigh.

"The truth is…I'm just…scared."

"Why?"

"Dr Collards said that today I'd be moving into Metro City."

"Really? Then why aren't you happy?"

"Did he ever tell you that I always refused to watch the news or read the newspapers?"

"Yeah, he did mention that."

"I mean, the world is just so big, and I've never set foot off this island, so I'm just worried what it's going to be like, living in a place with complete strangers."

"Don't worry. Metro City is full of nice people."

"I'm sure it is, but what will they think of me? I'm sure they'll just laugh like everyone else."

"If anyone so much as giggles, I'll be sure to give them a piece of my mind."

She smiled half-heartedly and looked down at the floor.

"I could always introduce you to my friends first. They're really nice and I'm sure you'll like them too."

The door opened and Dr Collards poked his head in, asking the two to get ready. Once he left, Astro slid off the bed and grabbed his suitcase. Aurora watched him pack his things before asking a few questions.

"What's the city like?"

"Well, it's pretty big and full of robots."

"It is?" she said with a gulp.

"Well, it _is_ the most well-known city for its robotics."

He closed his suitcase and held it up, ready to leave. He walked out of the room with Aurora following close behind. They joined a fairly large array of agents who led them onto the private jet that was going to fly them to the city. The interior of the jet was stunningly beautiful. There were two large seats facing each other beside each window, with a table in between them for food and drink. There were at least five flower vases with various arrangements inside each for decoration, and each of the windows were lined with a pair of beautiful silk curtains. Astro moved over to one of the seats and sat down, Aurora sitting in the seat opposite him. The door to the plane closed, and it started down the runway until it took off.

"Check," said Aurora, staring down at a small knight on a horse.

Astro sniggered and moved a castle straight into the noble steed and took it down. "Not anymore," he said.

Aurora seemed to take a while before moving her hand above a bold-looking statue and picking it up. She moved it diagonally and stopped it right where she needed it.

"And that's check mate."

She crossed her arms and smiled, watching the priceless look on Astro's face as he stared down at the black and white board.

"H-how did you…?"

"It's always been my strategy. I used almost all of my pieces to lure yours away from the king, so I was free to check him."

"Man…"

"Remember that. It might even help you in a battle. Know the fight, not the distraction."

Astro smiled and looked at her after he packed away the chess-board. She looked out the window and stared at the city that they were pulling into.

"A-are we here?"

"We sure are!"

The plane came to a halt at the Metro City Airport's runway, and the door opened to let the super robot and bat cross-species out. Aurora nervously got out of her seat and walked over to the door, pausing right before stepping out. Astro came up behind her and reassuringly urged her on. Ever so slowly, she placed a single foot on each step until she felt the concrete ground beneath her. She took a minute or so to take in all her surroundings; the massive jets flying about the place, the many robots working around the runway and the airport itself. She looked to her left and gazed at Metro City not too far away. Astro came up beside her, placing a hand on her shoulder.

"Come on, there's still a lot to see!" he said cheerily.

Aurora nodded and followed Astro to a limo that pulled over by the jet. They watched the doors open and glanced at Dr Tenma who stepped out at that moment (he left the ISRB to continue on another project at the Ministry of Science). Astro ran up to him, giving his father a big hug.

"So, how have things gone at the ISRB?" Tenma asked.

"Great! My assignment was as Aurora's tutor!"

"They assigned you as a tutor? And who is this 'Aurora'?"

Astro turned around and glanced at the young girl, who was standing sheepishly several yards away from them. She gave a small wave and smiled nervously as she walked over to the Doctor. His eyes widened as he saw her unusual features and slowly shook her hand to greet her.

"Ah, so you're the one Dr Collards has been talking so much about. He asked me for permission for you to stay at our home."

"She's staying with us?!" Astro cried, just on the merge of blushing. He wasn't prepared for that.

"Yes, but I didn't think of…sleeping accommodations at the time, so I'll let her decide where she would like to sleep."

They began walking over to the vehicle and stepped inside, closing the door and instructing Orrin to drive back to their home.

Tenma continued to speak to Aurora as the car started.

"So, Dr Collards tells me that you're not, well, _comfortable_ around robots, so how are you finding Astro?"

Since she was still feeling a little shy, she secretly grabbed Astro's hand as she replied.

"Oh, I don't mind Astro. He's…different."

She looked at the young robot and smiled. Tenma smiled in return and noticed that they were approaching their destination.

"Ok, we're almost there."

Keeping Astro's hand out of sight, she squeezed it tightly out of nervousness. As the limo came to a halt and they stepped in the living room of her new home, Aurora began pacing around with a smile on face, getting a good look of the interior.

"Here, I'll show you to my room," said Astro, taking her hand.

Astro was surprised when Aurora had said that she wished to sleep in his bed. He wasn't sure how to react, and neither did his father. Instead they both let her, and Astro followed her nervously back to his room. She sat down on the edge of the bed and glanced outside, yawning as she did so.

"Boy has it been a long day," she said, lying down on the left side of the soft mattress.

"Yeah. I'm glad you like it here, anyway," Astro replied, sitting down next to her on the right side of the bed.

"Well, this is just the start. I'm still nervous about meeting your friends."

"I kind of am, too. I haven't seen them for almost three months now."

"You what?!"

"I know, but I've been busy dealing with the city's criminals and being your tutor, of course."

"Hmm, true."

She turned over onto her stomach and lay her head down on the pillow. Astro did the same, except he lay on his back. There was a long silence before they said or did anything.

"Well, I guess it's time for lights out," he finally said, reaching up for a switch and lying back down.

Aurora smiled and closed her eyes, breathing softly. Astro turned onto his right-hand side, put his hands under his head and tried his best to close his eyes, but he couldn't seem to stop staring at Aurora. Each time he was near her, he felt that there was something he needed to do – WANTED to do – but he couldn't figure it out. He did know one thing, though; he always wanted to be around her, as if he would collapse to the ground and die if he ever got too far away. It was then Astro got an idea. Since he was a robot and didn't really need to sleep, he would wait out the whole night, and then when the sun rose, he would sit on the end of the bed watching her. He thought it was great payback for yesterday morning. And even though he knew it would be hours until morning, it felt like only minutes when he wouldn't stop staring at her for the whole night. So when the sun _did_ finally rise, and Aurora opened her eyes, he was looking right at her as she sat up.

"Ha, ha, very funny," she said with a smirk. Astro chuckled and got off the bed.

"Ok, then time to get ready."

"Can't I sleep in? It's not like your friends are going to be awake this early anyway."

Astro sighed and sat back down.

"Ok, you can sleep in," he replied with a smile.

It was about ten o' clock when Aurora finally agreed to get up and get ready. She put on her usual outfit, ate the breakfast Orrin made for her, brushed her hair, cleaned her teeth and put her black and white high-top sneakers on.

"Alright, let's go!" she cried. She was only eager to leave so she could go flying with Astro again, since that would be how they'd find his friends. They walked out onto the balcony and jumped off, taking flight as they were about to hit the pavement down below.

"So, do you know where to start looking?"

"Yup. I know that Zane, Widget and Sludge will be at Metro City Orphanage, and I'm certain that Cora will be visiting them each day."

He led her down another street until the orphanage was in sight, and they landed on the sidewalk once they reached it. Aurora grabbed Astro's arm when she saw everyone looking at her, but he reassured her that they were looking at him, not her. They proceeded inside the building until they came to the reception desk, where Astro asked where his friends might be. The lady at the desk directed him down a hallway and into a large room full of many beds, which was clearly where all the orphans slept. He and Aurora continued down the room until he caught sight of Zane walking in the room, along with Cora, Widget and Sludge.

"Hey, guys!" he called out, making the five of them turn their heads in his direction.

"ASTRO!" they all cried, running up to him and each giving him a great big hug.

"Where've you been? We've really missed you," said Widget.

"Yeah, we thought you'd forgotten about us," added Cora.

"How could I forget my best friends?" the super robot replied. "By the way, how's your reading and writing coming along, Zane?"

"…Does the alphabet count?"

All six of them laughed at Zane's remark, and when they finally calmed down, Astro continued speaking.

"Anyway, I want you guys to meet someone. I was assigned as her tutor at the Intergalactic Science Research Base about a month ago, and her name is Aurora."

He stepped out of the way to reveal a young, shy girl with remarkable features standing behind him.

"Whoa… Are those wings and ears real?" asked Sludge.

Aurora nodded slowly, staring at the floor.

"…That is so _cool!" _cried Zane as the others gathered around her.

They each introduced themselves and complimented her wings and ears.

"You see? I told you they'd like you," Astro said to her.

"…Thank you, everyone. Besides Astro, you're my first ever friends! We are friends, right…?"

"Of course we are!" Cora cried. "Say, why don't we each go down to the Surface for the day?"

Everyone nodded excitedly and gained permission from the orphanage to visit their old home.

Walking past masses of junk piles and robot parts, Astro's friends couldn't stop asking questions about her. Things like, "what are you interested in", and "where did you come from", plus the very obvious question, "how did you get those wings and ears". Aurora gained the courage to tell them about her past, something of which they kept gasping at.

"You were really treated that badly…?" asked Cora, a slight hint of sadness in the glint of her eyes.

"Yeah… Even just walking through this scrapheap makes me feel nervous, almost as if something is going to jump out at me at any second," the bat cross-species replied, choking up a little.

"What about Astro? I mean, he's a robot too, so aren't you like, scared of him?" questioned Zane, receiving a punch in the shoulder from Cora.

Aurora cast a sideways glance at the robot boy and sighed.

"Well, I was actually _really_ afraid of him when I was told what he was, but after getting to know him better, he's ok."

There was a long silence before she or any of the others spoke again.

"And, Astro?" she asked him.

"Yeah?"

"I'm going to be honest with you – I'm…still a little afraid of you…"

Everyone looked to Astro, whose eyes were slightly widened. How can she still be scared of him?

"Aurora…"

"I know, it sounds strange, considering everything you've taught me and such. It's just that, well, every time I look at you, I'm just reminded of how my so-called "best friend" betrayed me back then."

Astro stopped completely and turned to hold both of her hands.

"I would never hurt you, or anyone at all for that matter. It's just not my nature to do cruel things."

"It's true; you should've seen him when he saved Hamegg! I don't think any of _us_ would've saved him if we could," Sludge added.

Aurora smiled and thanked them for their reassurance. She thought back to when she found out that the Bearer of the Blue Core was her tutor, as well as her only friend at the time. She remembered the look in his eyes – the kindness, the generosity, the forgiveness, the _humanity_ – it was unlike anything she'd ever seen in a robot before. And when she pecked him on the cheek as she entered her room, why did she do that? She often denied a lot of her thoughts and feelings about him and shook the stress of it all off. They continued past all the junk piles and even the RRF's "secret" hideout until they came to a very familiar beaten up red bridge. Everyone but Aurora instantly knew where they were, and on instinct, Astro walked over to the makeshift slide to the right and jumped down it, the others following. The large green door that they came to was slightly ajar, so Astro was able to open it easily, proceeding inside. The room inside was just…empty. Nothing. Not even a chair was in sight. It was strangely eerie and quiet, and Aurora nudged Astro's arm, wanting to leave. He gently took her hand and led her up a set of stairs that was connected to a smaller room. Again, empty. They turned to leave when they heard a loud smash and several angry shouts from outside.

"What was that…?" Aurora asked quietly.

"Don't ever do that again you hunk of junk!" cried a short man with black curly hair and a small moustache. He was waving a clenched fist at a large, golden construction robot that was turning to leave after supposedly crushing another, smaller robot. Mumbling to himself, the man walked over to the remains and picked them up in his arms. "So much for a handy service-bot…"

"…Hamegg?"

The sudden and familiar voice made him turn around abruptly, dropping the broken robot in the process. He stared in shock at the sight of a small boy with black spiked hair and shiny red boots standing not too far away.

"A-astro…?"

"How are you doing?" the young robot replied with a smile stretched across him face.

"What are you doing here? I thought you hated me after what I did to you."

"How can I hate you?"

"Um, hello? I electrocuted you and almost got you killed in the robot games."

"I know, and I don't blame you for that. You were just trying to keep your reputation and you couldn't help yourself."

"You're just way too nice, Astro."

The both of them chuckled before Hamegg spoke again.

"See, the truth is, at first I thought you were just another robot experiment and anything you did didn't matter, so I guess I kind of lost myself and grew power-hungry. But, after the robot games and after you saved my life, it was then I realized that you were different, special even. Your emotions aren't fake – they're real, just like your own thoughts too. You have a mind, a heart, and a soul. Something that no other robot could possess, and that's when I wished I could just take everything back."

"Wow, thanks for looking at it that way, Hamegg!"

"No problem, kiddo."

"So, what gave away that I was a robot?"

"Well, besides the fact that you somehow managed to activate Zog, I already had my suspicions. I don't know why, I guess it was that hunch I had about you. When I was measuring Zog's energy level, I'll admit I purposefully moved the machine near you to prove my theory. As soon as I saw the meter rise off the chart, I couldn't believe how powerful you could be."

"Astro! Where are y-" cried Cora, gasping at the scene she was seeing. The young robot was sitting down on a bench with Hamegg, just…talking. "ASTRO?!"

"Hey, Cora," Astro said, waving.

Hey eyesight kept flicking back and forth between Astro and Hamegg, jaw dropped open completely. Soon the others poured round the corner and gave just about the same reaction, except for Aurora of course, who was shyly making her way over to her tutor.

"Hey, kids! Long time no see huh?" Hamegg greeted.

"Astro, how can you be talking to this MONSTER?!" Cora cried, frantically waving her arms about.

"I beg your pardon?" said Hamegg with a huff.

"We still haven't forgiven you, you know," Zane added to erase the confusion a little.

"I have," spoke Astro.

They all looked at him in shock, exchanging glances with one another.

"Um, Astro…?" Aurora asked, grabbing the robot's arm.

"Yeah?"

"Is this the guy who electrocuted you in the robot games?"

Astro smiled and nodded, and then she too cast a look of shock and pure horror at Hamegg.

"And, erm, who's this?" Hamegg asked, gesturing to the strange-looking girl who sat next to Astro.

"Her name's Aurora, and she's…been through a lot."

Astro explained everything to him to make things clearer.

"Oh my goodness, I'm so sorry," he said, aware of the terrors in her past.

"I-it's ok. Astro and the others are really nice to me, so I guess it doesn't matter anymore really," she replied, smiling at her new friends.

Several hours after they met Hamegg once again, Zane, Widget and Sludge returned to the orphanage so they wouldn't get into trouble, leaving Astro, Aurora and Cora by themselves. They sat on a hill in the Metro City Park for some peace and quiet, since Astro's ever-lasting fans wouldn't leave him alone. Cora started the conversation by talking about her parents.

"My new life at home is kinda strange," she began, staring up at the clouds that were forming vibrant colours of orange and pink as the sun began to set. "My parents are obsessing over me and almost never letting me out of their sight."

"Well, what can you expect from parents who'd lost their daughter for so long? Trust me, I know what it's like," said Astro.

"I guess. Hey, I never told you how I ended up on the Surface, did I?"

Astro shook his heady, listening intently. This was something that was bugging him ever since he knew her. How DID she end up there?

"Well, since I was about ten years old, I was out playing in our garden, bored as heck. I was kicking my soccer ball around some old fence posts when I spotted a large, bird-like robot sitting on one of them. I casually walked over to it and held my hand out. It slowly stretched its neck outwards, reaching its beak for my hand. Just as I was about to stroke it, my parents came rushing out, frightening the poor thing. In its state of shock, it attacked me and nearly took one of my eyes out. As it flew off, that was when my parents declared that they hated robots, and _I_ hated _them_ for not only almost making the thing kill me, but also because of their hatred for anything mechanical that walks and talks."

"Your parents hate robots?" Aurora asked.

"Yeah."

"Well, they're not the only ones. Uh, no offense, Astro!"

"It's ok," Astro replied, smiling. He could never get mad at her.

"So after a pretty long and tiring argument, trying to convince them that robots were good, I'd had enough and ran away. I stole an old hover bike and just…rode. I closed my eyes and didn't care where I was going, and that's when I ended up on the Surface. That's also when I met my new family."

"Whoa…" exclaimed Astro. "So you were living with Hamegg for five years?"

"Yup, and then came that fateful day when you came along."

There was a long silence as all three of them looked at the ever-darkening sky.

"Your parents don't like me, then?" the robot asked.

"No. They want me to stay away from you in fear of getting hurt. Oh, by the way, they've enrolled me into Metro High, you know, the school Toby went to?"

Astro had told his friends the short life story of Toby as they walked back to the city.

"Cool!"

"I've heard that Zane will be going too. Widget and Sludge will be going to the primary school, of course."

Astro's eyes shot open when he felt Aurora's head rest against his shoulder, fast asleep. He chuckled and said they should be going.

"Ok then. See you soon, Astro!"

"Bye, Cora!"

He waved as he activated his rocket boots and shot through the air, carrying Aurora bridal-style.

When he landed safely on the balcony, went inside and said 'hi' to his father, he entered his room and gently lay Aurora on his bed, carefully dragging the covers over her so she wouldn't wake up. She sure looked peaceful when she was sleeping. He left his room and sat down on the couch where Tenma was.

"Son?"

"Yeah, dad?"

"I need to have a word with you."


	5. Chapter 5 - School Life

**Chapter Five – School Life**

Astro and Aurora let out a long, heavy sigh as they stood in front of the doors to Metro High, a backpack strapped on Astro's back and a shoulder-bag slung over Aurora's shoulder because of her wings. They were both horror-stricken when Dr Tenma told them that he had enrolled them both into the school. Astro was mortified because he knew he would get either bullied because he was a robot or get bowled over by fans because he was a hero. Aurora, on the other hand, did NOT want to be around large groups of students who she didn't know of. As Astro let out another sigh, he opened the door to find all the students lining the halls, either picking around in their lockers or chatting with friends. Astro's nightmare began when a girl cried out, "OH MY GOD, IT'S ASTRO!" Girls from all over the school then began crowding him and trying to get his attention. Aurora quietly slipped past and waited for the chaos to end. She watched as the poor robot tried desperately to escape the crowd and answer all the questions thrown at him – he had to activate his rocket boots in order to get away. He grabbed Aurora's hand and dragged her down to where their lockers were.

"You know, I think I'd rather be fighting the Peacekeeper right now…" he said, out of breath.

Aurora giggled and pressed her thumb to the handle on the locker door. This identified who she was so no one else could get in. Since this was a new locker, a holo-pad appeared asking for her name. She typed in "Aurora Nightly" and it opened the door.

"Is that your second name?" Astro asked.

"Yeah, Dr Collards told me to go by it," she replied.

Astro frowned as the name "Toby Tenma" appeared on his locker holo-pad. Hesitating, he pressed "new user" and typed in "Astro Tenma" instead. It then asked for his thumb print, of which he gave. There was a quiet beep as his settings were saved and the door opened. As he dumped his bag into the locker and took out the things he needed for his first lesson, he caught many of the students casting him weird glances. Some of them were hoping for his attention, others were wondering what he was doing in the school, and the rest just didn't even care or didn't like him. He noticed Aurora shaking as many of the students turned their gaze towards her instead, gawking at her bat-like features. There was no way the two of them would be left alone.

As the bell rang for homeroom to mark the rolls, the two were thankful that everyone rushed to their classrooms. Astro, having Toby's memories, knew exactly where to go. He took Aurora's hand and took her to a door that said: 'Mr Mustachio'. He pushed opened the door and greeted the friendly teacher as he took his seat. He gestured Aurora to sit at the desk beside him, and they could hear the students murmuring amongst themselves as she sat down.

"Alright, students, before I mark the role I would like to introduce you to your new classmates. Aurora Nightly and Astro Tenma," said Mr Mustachio. Everyone's gaze fell upon the two, and while some were saying they couldn't believe Astro Boy was in their class, others were saying how weird-looking Aurora was. "I'm sure you'll make them feel welcome here at Metro High. Now, let's begin. Lilly?"

"Here."

"Zack?"

"Yup."

"Anastasia?"

"You know I'm always here."

"Harry?"

There was no reply.

"Alright then. Holly?"

"Here, Sir!"

The teacher kept calling out names until he was finished. While he sorting out the files, the students began to whisper to each other.

"Astro, I don't get why he still called out our names when he knows that we're here," Aurora said to the boy robot.

"It's to make sure we're listening," he replied.

"Oh."

She looked at the clock and took out her timetable. There was still ten minutes of homeroom left. Suddenly, a scrunched-up piece of paper landed on her desk. She looked across to a group of buff-looking boys who sat to the right of her. Glancing back down at the paper, she unfolded it and read it. She ruffled her wings when the words glared back at her. She looked to the boys and then to Astro, who was playing a game on his desk's screen. Unsure of what to do, she scanned the paper over a little more and glanced to the boys again. They were bored of waiting for a reaction so they were looking away, and that's when she decided to consult Astro. She lightly tapped his shoulder and waited for him to pause his game. When his did, he turned to face her.

"Is everything ok?"

"Um, those boys over there threw this piece of paper onto my desk, and what it says kinda…scares me…"

She handed him the message and watched him skim his eyes over the words. The message read: IF YOU WANNA KEEP THOSE WINGS THEN GET OUT OF THE SCHOOL, FREAK. He gasped. He knew that something like this might happen. He was just glad that she showed it to him, otherwise he wouldn't be able to stand up for her.

"Just ignore them, they're only looking for attention," he said.

She nodded began to play around with the settings on her screen. She glanced back at the boys who were sniggering at her again. _Now that I think about it, robots might actually be better than humans… _she thought as the bell rang for the first lesson.

A loud whistle sounded and all the students in PE class lined up against the tall gymnasium wall. The burly teacher began shouting stretch commands, something of which Astro didn't need to do. Toby had always hated PE class because he was never the athletic type. But Astro, he couldn't wait for the actual lesson to begin. The teacher asked for the dodgeball captains to pick the teams. One captain was a girl and the other was a boy, and when the girl won who got to pick first over rock paper scissors, she immediately picked Astro first. He walked over to her team along with many others until Aurora was the only one left standing against the wall. It was the boy's turn to pick, and seeing only one girl left, he said, "You, whoever you are."

"Her name is Aurora," Astro said, slightly annoyed.

"Now, who here does NOT know how to play?" the teacher yelled unnecessarily.

Aurora was the only one who raised her hand, which made the other students giggle. After quite loudly explaining the rules to her, she glanced over to Astro on the opposite team and gave her an 'I promise I won't go for you' look. She didn't like the idea of being hit by large gym balls.

"Alright, Astro, play fair or you'll be disqualified!" the gym teacher shouted, making some of the students snicker.

"Don't worry, Sir. I can lower my strength capacity to that of a human," he explained, doing his best not to use big words.

"Good. Teams, to your places!"

The teams went to their respective sides and the dodgeballs were placed along the middle line separating the spaces. The teacher blew the whistle and watched a majority of the students rush for the balls as if they were in the Hunger Games. Making sure she didn't step out of the boundary, she hung right back, constantly eyeing people with the balls. She giggled as she saw the girls on Astro's team cower behind him as he picked up and caught each ball. Distracted by this, she suddenly noticed a ball hurtling towards her at great speed. On instinct, she ducked and let the ball hit the wall, hands covering her head as if the ceiling were about to collapse. Seeing no one else go for it, she ran over to the dodgeball, knowing that she was allowed to step out of the boundary if she was picking one up. She grasped it and made her way back into the playing field. She went round to the right side where there weren't many players, hiding the ball behind her back. Using her teammates on the left side as a distraction, she stealthily rolled the ball to someone on the opposite team, completely oblivious to his ticket out. It hit his foot and he stomped away, grumbling to himself. Astro noticed this strategy and thought to himself, _looks like I taught her well, and herself, I guess._ He remembered when she told him about knowing the fight, not the distraction. He smiled and continued to throw balls at the opposing team. Aurora barely missed several balls coming her way, and as she ran forward to pick up another, she misplaced her footing and fell backward, watching at least four balls being thrown at her. Astro watched in horror, hoping she wouldn't get hurt. She managed to get up in the nick of time and somehow dodge all four at once. Seeing one last ball come her way, she did something she didn't even know she could do. She jumped upwards and performed an amazing semi back flip, first landing on her hands and then her feet. The ball flew underneath her as she was in the air, and she dashed for the ball that she had failed to pick up earlier. All the students gasped in shock of what she did, along with one annoying boy who called out that it was cheating.

It was nearing the end of the lesson and Aurora and Astro were the only ones left standing.

"Ok, Astro, no more truce. Give it your best shot!" she cried out to him.

"Right back at you!" he cried back.

She breathed in deeply and hoped that her next strategy would work. She waited for Astro to pick up the first ball and throw it at her, along with the next and the next, dodging them all. When he threw the final ball, he looked around frantically for another one, but then he realized that Aurora had all the balls on her side. He just stood there and watched her casually stroll over to two balls, picked them up in each hand and walked over as far as she was allowed to. Planning her next move carefully, she hoped Astro didn't know that she was planning another distraction. She aimed like she was trying, threw the ball and promptly missed him completely. She could already taste victory as her plan was working, watching Astro's head follow the ball that flew behind him. It was then he realized what she was doing, but it was too late. She had used the first ball as a distraction and threw the second ball while he was concentrating on the first. Her ball hit him right in the chest as he turned around, and before he had a chance to catch it, it had already hit the ground. Aurora's team cheered and ran toward her, her face full of pride. She'd never played dodgeball before and she had just won it for her team. Not only that, but she beat the super-robot too. He walked over to her and shook her hand.

"Sweet game, Aurora!" he said to her.

"Thanks!"

The bell rang and all the students ran out of the gym to find their friends and have lunch.

Astro and Aurora were busy fishing through their lockers when someone practically performed an assassination jump onto Astro's back. Startled, he managed to get his attacker off of him and turn to face who it was. His face could only smile as he stared up at Cora. She hugged him and was ecstatic to see her best friend.

"What are you two doing here?" she asked as Zane came up to greet them too.

"Astro's father enrolled us both into the school!" Aurora cried.

"Why?"

"I don't know, maybe to fit in, I guess," said Astro, shrugging his shoulders.

They made their way out into the courtyard to find a place to sit and eat. Once they had found a reasonably good bench, they took out what they had to eat and began chewing.

"What's that you have there, Astro?" asked Zane, pointing to a water bottle in the robot's hand.

"Oh, this? It's a special mixture of oil and mineral water that my dad gave me to try. Apparently it'll cleanse out my internal circuitry so everything will run smoother. I know it sounds weird and probably disgusting but it's actually kind of nice. For me anyway," he replied, taking a sip and swallowing.

"Wait, you can actually taste?" questioned Cora.

Astro gave a nod, taking another sip.

"I _was_ built with functioning human senses."

He noticed Aurora was being rather quiet as she munched on her peanut-butter sandwich. He decided to lighten up the mood a bit by starting another conversation when a gang of boys and several girls strode over to them. The four friends glanced up at the intimidating group and asked if they could help them.

"Nah, we just wanna give you a proper welcome to the school," sneered the biggest of the boys.

Astro immediately recognised this type of attitude. When Toby still went to the school, he was constantly bullied because of his smarts. Astro thought he was about to get the same attention, plus the fact that he was a robot would only made things worse. The boy that just spoke approached Aurora and grabbed her by the neck, lifting her up off the ground. She gagged and choked at his grip, having awful flashbacks to when robots did this to her, too. During that time she had learned to stay calm and control her breath so she wouldn't suffocate quickly. Astro could feel an unusual wave of rage pass through him as he watched his friend choke. He wasn't sure what to do, though. Even Cora and Zane were no match for this kid and the other gang members that were ready to back him up. He couldn't attack because of the Law of Robotics, but he had to do something.

"LET HER GO!" he yelled, activating his rocket boots and hovering at eye-level with the bully. Up close, he actually recognized him. His name was Mitch, and he often bullied Toby by doing the same thing – strangling him. Now that he was stronger, Astro had a chance to stand up for himself, but this was going to be impossible if he didn't act intimidating.

"And what are YOU going to do about it? You know you can't hurt me, robot!"

"Then stop hurting _her_!"

Mitch didn't release his grip, and he was becoming far too cocky. Astro clenched his fists and gritted his teeth, something that Cora and Zane had never seen in Astro before. Did he actually have a mean side to him? The robot lurched forward and hit Mitch's arm hard enough to make him let go of Aurora. Astro caught her and gently put her on the bench so she could catch her breath. She was coughing tremendously, and this only angered Astro even more. He turned his head toward Mitch who was staggering backwards, clutching his arm that was now bruised. Wait, did he actually just hurt a human?

"I'm telling the principle about this!" he shouted, beckoning his friends to follow him out of the courtyard.

Astro breathed a sigh of relief as they disappeared from sight, and he bent down to tend to Aurora, who was rubbing her sore neck.

"Are you ok?" he asked.

"You do realize you just violated the Law of Robotics, right?" she replied, not answering his question.

"What else was I supposed to do? Let them kill you?"

He glanced over at Zane and Cora, giving him a look of total shock and horror.

"Astro, I'm sure they would've let me go eventu-"

"No…! No… They wouldn't have, trust me."

He lowered his head and sighed, closing his eyes.

"He almost killed Toby by doing the same thing, once."

She gasped and put a hand to her mouth. She never thought that Toby could've died from a bully before.

"Mitch had tagged him after school, and he let him go as he was on his last breath. If they did the same to you and didn't let you go I would never forgive myself."

The bell rang and the four of them got up to go to their next class. Before Astro and Aurora could even get to their lockers, the principle was blocking their way with a sniggering Mitch standing behind her.

"Astro, my office. Now," she said, quite sternly. Astro gulped and asked if Aurora could come to by saying she was a part of this. He needed her for evidence of his innocence. With permission to come, they were both led to the office in the staffroom and were asked to sit down. As if on cue, Dr Tenma arrived in the office, too.

"D-dad?!" Astro stuttered. He was in serious trouble now.

"Mitch here says that you punched him in the arm for absolutely no reason while he was eating lunch," said the principle. Mitch rolled up his sleeve to reveal a large, purple bruise on his upper arm as proof.

"Miss Stake, I'm sure this is a big misunderstanding. Astro would never attack anyone without a good reason to do so," Tenma said.

"And I did!" Astro began. "I didn't have a choice; Mitch came up and began strangling Aurora to the point where he almost killed her!"

"Is this true, Mitch?"

"Of course not, Miss! He's lying just to get out of trouble!" he whimpered.

Boy, was Astro glad to have his dad on his side.

"Wait a second, I'm certain I recognise you, Mitch," he started. "…Ah, yes, the one who strangled Toby when he still when to this school!"

The principle then looked back to the bully, a look of worry in his face.

"T-that wasn't me! I-it was Nick Marlin!"

"I don't believe you," Tenma replied.

"Astro is telling the truth," said a quiet voice. Everyone in the room had completely forgotten about the shy bat cross-species sitting beside Astro. "I-I have the bruises on my neck to prove it…" She pulled back her hair to reveal several small, finger-sized bruises along her neck.

"Mitch, you are worthy of a month in detention and community service for almost killing a student," the principle stated.

"WHAT?! BUT-"

"No buts. You are dismissed."

Mitch left the room uttering curses under his breath.

"Now, Astro, although you had a reason to attack him, you have still violated the Law of Robotics, and, as you know, the punishment in doing so is being dismantled."

Astro's eyes began to well up with tears that soon trailed down his cheek. Aurora and Tenma began to get all teary too, trying to act brave. Tenma didn't want to lose his only son. Again.

"However…" she continued, Astro looking up to her with eyes full of hope – and tears. "President Logan has declared that Astro may be allowed break the law in order to save someone's life, or has a VERY good reason for it. He saved the city and he is the only robot who has been granted this freedom."

Astro's upset frown was gone in a flash and was replaced by the biggest smile on his face.

"Thank you, Miss Stake!" he cried with delight. Tenma breathed a heavy sigh of relief and relaxed in his chair. Why had he not been told about this? Maybe he just wasn't paying attention. Aurora hugged Astro, thankful that she didn't have to lose him. _Thank you, President Logan,_ Astro thought.

"You _still_ have detention with me tomorrow morning," the principle announced before dismissing them.

"Aww man..." Astro replied.


	6. Chapter 6 - The First Dance

**Chapter Six – The First Dance**

When they arrived home, Astro and Aurora immediately went to their room while Tenma sat down on the couch to watch TV. The young robot sighed and propped himself up against the headboard and pillow on his bed. Surprisingly, Aurora came over and sat in his lap, leaning her back against him and making him blush. _Why, why does this make me feel awkward, but in a good way? _he asked himself. Astro reckoned it was just a natural reaction, but he wrapped his arms around her stomach and rested his head against hers. He guessed he needed the comfort, anyway. But still, he was surprised at the sudden gesture.

"You're not still stressing over what happened earlier, are you?" she asked him softly.

"No, I still just can't believe I actually hit a human. I don't know what came over me, but I felt all this rage building up inside me as I watched you dangle helplessly from his grasp, and I had to release it somehow. And then I just…hit him," he replied, a deep sorrow in his throat.

"It'll be ok. You'll get over it soon."

She turned onto her stomach to face him, his arms now around her waist. He began blushing lightly and couldn't stop the slight and strange tingling sensation in his chest. What did it mean? He definitely never felt it before. They both turned their heads to the explosion that was heard from below. Astro gently and carefully lifted Aurora off him and got up to see what the matter was. As he stared out the window, he recognised the shiny black vehicle that was speeding away from the crime scene.

"Great, it's that lunatic again," he muttered to himself. He leapt out the window and chased after the skunk of all criminals.

Astro caught up to the car and grabbed the back bumper, attempting to slow it down. He succeeded and brought it back down to the road. Once he landed, he made sure that the car didn't make any further attempts to escape, and he walked over to the driver's door to open it. …Except there was nobody in it. Astro gasped and wondered what a rogue car was doing with no passengers or even a driver in it.

"_Know the fight, not the distraction,"_ the feminine voice in the back of his mind told him.

"Oh, just great," he mumbled. The car had been a diversion and the real criminal was probably escaping with his prize. Just as he was turning away, his ultra-sonic hearing detected a faint beeping from inside that was rapidly getting faster. Knowing it was too late, he gulped and braced for impact. BOOM! The car exploded with such force that it knocked the poor robot straight through another building. His school clothes were now not only burnt but torn as well, but he didn't pay attention to the way he looked. Skunk was going to pay for that.

Astro finally caught sight of Skunk passing large bags to a group of men who were loading them onto a truck by the edge of the city.

"Stop right there!" he yelled, diving down and knocking over the truck. Skunk gasped and didn't expect Astro to find him. He grabbed the remaining bags and headed for his car, but he was stopped in his tracks by the robot. "Enough games, Skunk," he said to the crook.

"Ok, fine, you win this time," he said dropping the bags by his side. _Wait a second, that was too easy, _Astro thought. Skunk brought out his hands in front of him as if he was bound by invisible cuffs. Astro sent a signal to the police and waited for them to arrive, not taking his eyes off the criminals. As the police hovercrafts finally came into view, they handcuffed Skunk and pushed him inside one of them. Astro thought for a second and then took off, heading in a different direction. His eyes were trained on the road that he was following, and soon enough he came across a small pizza van that was driving nowhere near a place where pizza was made.

Detective Towashi stepped up to the bags to make sure that the contents were unharmed. He opened the first one and upon his face shed a look of pure shock as the only thing the bag contained was a bunch of rocks. He frantically checked the other bags and even the ones inside the truck – they all contained the same boring old rocks. He stormed over to Skunk who was smirking and humming a tune as if he was on vacation.

"Alright you overgrown weed, what can you tell me about this?!" Towashi yelled as he held up one of the bags.

"You know for a detective you really are clueless," Skunk remarked.

"YOU BETTER ANSWER MY QUESTION OR I'LL-"

Both the detective and criminal leapt out of their skins when a pizza van was promptly dropped on the ground upside-down behind them. Astro was hovering above it, smiling and waving before he took off. Towashi and other policemen inspected the van and were shocked to find the real stolen goods inside. In the hovercraft, Skunk was cursing under his breath.

Astro landed back inside his room to be greeted by Aurora again, who asked him what happened.

"Skunk, that's what. He's an incredibly crafty criminal, but at least I stopped him again," he explained. He noticed his battered-up clothes in the mirror and let out a sigh, ripping them off and tossing them to the side.

"Did I ever mention you look really cute the way you are?" said Aurora, sitting up on the bed.

"Y-you think I'm…cute?" he replied, rubbing the back of his head, blushing yet again.

She let out a small giggle and nodded, looking away from him in embarrassment. She brought up her knees and hugged them, rocking back and forth slightly.

"Thanks," said Astro, smiling. Did she have a small crush on him, too?

The next day at school, and after Astro had his detention, two students were going around every class to announce that there would be a school disco on the upcoming Friday. Science class was the only one he had with Cora, Zane and Aurora all together, so they all chatted about it while they did their work – or at least tried to. Astro, who was already done, asked if they would be going.

"What's a disco?" Aurora asked.

"It's a place where people go to dance and have fun!" explained Cora. "I'll definitely be going. I've always wanted to see what it would be like."

"Same here," agreed Zane.

"I guess I could go too. Aurora, are you going to be coming?" Astro asked.

"Well, I suppose it wouldn't hurt to give it a go…"

"Then it's settled!"

"Hush!" said the science teacher, annoyed at the noise level the students were producing.

Along came Friday night, and Astro was fretting over what he should wear. Aurora could only giggle as she watched the clueless robot pull things out of his wardrobe.

"Should I go as I am or should I wear something casual? Erm, what if everyone's wearing something fancy or uh…" he blabbered.

Aurora walked up to him and put a single finger on his lip, signalling to him to stop talking.

"Oh Astro," she giggled. "Anything will do. Don't be such a worry-bot."

He blushed as she handed him a white t-shirt that was a cyan blue around the collar and sleeves, and a pair of black baggy jeans. Putting them on, he wondered what she herself was going to wear. Surely she wasn't going in her school clothes. He looked at himself in the mirror and smiled.

"There, you look handsome," Aurora said, smiling.

She pushed him out of the room so she could change, laughing as she did so. While he was standing outside, he was wondering what was taking her so long. He grew impatient and was just about to knock on the door when she stepped out.

"Well, what do you think?" she asked.

_OH. MY. GOD… _he thought. She was wearing a simple but stunningly beautiful orange strapless mini-dress, which had a shiny black ribbon tied around it. To match, she was wearing the same gloves except black and a pair of black and orange platform shoes with silver studs and spikes around the edge.

"You look- I mean- just, wow…" he stuttered, not quite finding the words to describe her beauty.

"Thanks," she replied.

"Ok, are you two ready to go?" asked Orrin, gesturing towards the door.

The two of them nodded and made their way out of the building and into the car. On the way there, Aurora couldn't seem to stop fiddling with her hair, worried it'll get frizzy or tangled.

"Your hair is fine, Aurora," he said, moving her hands away from her head and placing them on her lap.

"Sorry, I just don't want my hair to get ruined," she replied, resisting the urge to play with it again.

"Ok, here we are!" cried Orrin, stopping the car and coming to a halt at the gates. They could already hear the music from inside. "Have a good time!" He started the car again and drove off, leaving the two of them to stand there in the cold.

"I didn't think it would be this nippy," Aurora said, clutching both her arms and shivering. Winter was nearing Metro City, and it was already starting to get beyond cold. Astro wrapped his arms around her and brought her close to him, shielding her from the wind. They both smiled as they made their way to the front doors of the school. When they entered and saw the hallway, it was completely empty, apart from the odd student or teacher going to the bathroom every now and then. Astro took Aurora's hand and walked with her down to the gymnasium, which was where the disco was being held. Right now they could hear rock music being played, and it sounded like it came from around 2010. Boy was this music old now, since they were in the year 2598. Either way, they still thought it was catchy, and followed the sound to the gym doors. There were already a lot of students in there dancing, chatting or stuffing their faces with food. They both wandered around looking for Cora and Zane, and they finally found them on the dance floor doing all sorts of crazy dance moves.

"Hey, guys!" they called, trying to be heard over the noise.

Both turning around, they saw their friends race over to them.

"So you finally made it!" Cora yelled over the music.

"Yeah!" Aurora yelled back.

"Do you guys know what this song is called?" Astro asked them.

"Apparently it's by an old band called Linkin Park, and the song is A Light That Never Comes!" Zane explained.

"Sounds pretty dark…!" Aurora commented.

The four of them danced in time with the song, enjoying the rapid beat of the music. The next song that played was Only Girl (In the World) by an artist called Rihanna. Just by listening to the lyrics, they could tell it was a dance love song. They all laughed as they danced, and just to show off, Astro performed a series of sharp and swift movements commonly known as "the robot", which made everyone in the room laugh and dance along. Astro stopped dancing altogether when he saw Aurora gracefully flowing with the beat. She moved her body in wave-like motions and did a few spins here and there, which captivated Astro as he stared in awe. The lyrics of the song made him blush, realizing he was staring and he hoped that no one noticed. He started dancing nervously again to ease the awkwardness. He still continued to watch the bat cross-species out of the corner of his eye, catching her doing amazing dance moves. It was like she was born to dance. As the song came to an end, both Aurora and Astro did a dramatic finish move, which only resulted in them turning around and pressing right against each other, their noses practically touching. Astro couldn't do anything but gaze into her eyes, the strange feeling of wanting to do something returning. It was overwhelming and his face was flushed pure red. He wanted to pull away but at the same time he wanted to stay like that, embracing the strange emotions that were overflowing his mind. The next song was a true love song, and Aurora was amazed at how well the lyrics matched how she was feeling. It was called A Thousand Years by Christina Perri. She looked down at her feet for a few seconds, not pulling away from Astro. She grabbed one of his hands and placed her free hand on his shoulder. On instinct yet again, Astro placed _his_ free hand on her waist, slowly matching the dance steps with hers. He looked down at their feet, wondering how on Earth he knew what to do. He couldn't remember Toby doing anything like this…

"Hey… Hey, Zane!" Cora whispered, nudging Zane's arm and making him look in Astro and Aurora's direction.

"Are they…dancing _together?_!" he said, slightly shocked. He didn't know Astro knew how to properly dance with a partner.

"Yeah! Do you think Astro…?"

"…Is in _love_ with her?"

They both looked at each other, not knowing if it was possible for even a robot like Astro to feel that kind of love. The song was utterly beautiful and relaxing in all ways, and that caused Aurora to close her eyes and rest her head against Astro's chest, listening to the whirring of circuits and cogs inside of him. She could even hear the blue core rotating peacefully under the panel, and that's something that she always enjoyed listening to. The lyrics in the song described ever-so perfectly how she practically died everyday waiting for him, and how she knew that someday she would find him. As the song slowly faded out, she glanced back up him, wrapping her arms around his neck. His chocolate-brown eyes held the look of pure kindness and mystery, and that's something she really liked about him. Zane and Cora's eyes both grew wide as Astro and Aurora slowly leaned inwards to each other, waiting for what they knew would come next. Their eyes half closed as they were leaning in closer and closer.

_Come on, Astro. You're so close! _Cora thought, practically screaming at herself. She was gripping her hair as the special moment was literally just a second away. Just then, a clumsy lunatic of a dancer stumbled into the back of Astro, completely ruining the moment. He staggered as he tried to right himself without knocking Aurora over, so he had to let go of her.

"OH, COME ON!" screamed Zane, not realizing how loud he was. Cora pulled him into the crowd so they wouldn't be seen.

"Be quiet, you idiot! At a place like this, they're bound to fall into the same moment with the right music," said Cora, slapping the back of his head.

The half-drunk dancer apologized to Astro and continued down to the bottom of the dance floor, making someone spill their drink.

"Well, _that_ was awkward…" said Aurora, twiddling her hair.

"Eh hehe, yeah…" he replied nervously. He thought back a few seconds ago. What WAS he about to do? It was like his mind…had a mind of its own? He decided not to turn his thoughts into a mental paradox so he just dropped it. He couldn't stop thinking of just how _close _he was to her though, it was almost scary. The way she felt against him felt just too comforting, like he was floating through heaven. The next song to start playing was On the Floor by Jennifer Lopez, and Aurora said that she was going to go and get a drink as the music started. Astro sighed and walked over to the wall, slumping against it. He felt like he had just failed terribly at something, but what was it?

Aurora stood by the food and drink tables, looking for some cups and water. She soon spotted it down the end, right where – oh no. Hanging around the water stand was Mitch, who was chatting away with his friends, not noticing her until she tried to sneak away to get back to Astro.

"Hey, bat-girl! Aww come on, we just want a little chat with you!" he cried out, causing everyone to glance at her.

She wasn't taking her chances with that gorilla of a kid, so ran as quickly as she could back to the top of the dance floor where she left Astro. She could feel her pulse rising as she looked around her, not seeing him anywhere. Sooner or later, the bullies would find her and most likely pulverize her. Surely Astro hadn't left already? She then started to look for Cora and Zane, soon spotting them nearby.

"Guys, have you seen Astro?" she asked.

"Wasn't he with you?" Zane replied.

She groaned, looking frantically around for him.

"I really need him right now," she said, not realizing that Cora and Zane turned that phrase over in their heads into something…romantic-sounding.

She dashed off when she saw Mitch getting closer, his eyes scanning the room for any signs of her. Her seemingly perfect night was about to turn into her worst.

Meanwhile, at the very back of the room, Astro was pacing back and forth, his mind being constantly bugged by Aurora crossing his thoughts. All these emotions…they were all new to him. He didn't know how to take it all in or how to express it. He felt lost in his own world. He needed to have a serious talk with Aurora; maybe she knew something about it. After all, girls are good with emotions, right? He proceeded away from the wall to look for Aurora. When he couldn't find her by the dance floor, he wondered if she was still getting a drink, so he checked by the drink stand. She wasn't there, either. He took note of the sudden change in music. It was a rock song called Time of Dying by a band called Three Days Grace. As he was listening to the lyrics, a horrible thought crossed his mind, and he began to panic. As the song rolled into the chorus, he spotted her pinned against the wall by none other than Mitch. He was holding her by the shoulders and kneeing her in the stomach. Outraged, Astro ran toward them, gripping Mitch's legs and pulling him down. He had to let go of Aurora so he could break his fall with his now free hands, and in this time lapse Astro picked up Aurora bridal-style, raced out the doors, down the hallway and out into the courtyard. Mitch got up and looked around him, wondering what just happened. Astro soon found a bench that wasn't dampened by the cold and lay Aurora on it, supporting her head with his hand.

"Are you ok?" he asked, kneeling beside her.

"…No. My stomach really hurts…"

"How many times did he kick you?"

"I lost count at about five…"

Astro flicked on his eye-lights and quickly scanned over her internal organs to make sure that nothing was damaged or broken. Breathing a sigh of relief, he sat down on the same bench and rested her head in his lap, looking down at her. He gently stroked her cheek with the back of his hand, not taking his eyes off her.

"Don't worry. You're going to be fine."

Cora and Zane paused at the doors that were connected to the courtyard and gasped. Zane stepped forward to go and see what happened, but Cora held him back.

"No, they need to be alone. It's perfect, with no one around," she advised him, whispering as quietly as she could but loud enough so he could hear her.

They watched as Aurora draped her arms around his neck, leaning forwards until their noses were touching. But this time, Astro actually pulled away, looking across to the other side of the courtyard, leaving Cora and Zane rather astonished.

"What?! How could he just look away? Do you think he's not ready?" Zane questioned Cora.

"No. It's because Astro knows this is not the right moment," she answered.

Astro soon picked Aurora up again and took off back to their home.

As the sun rose once more over Metro City, Astro woke up immediately to make sure that Aurora was ok. She was still lying peacefully in his bed, dreaming happy dreams. He smiled and gently stroked her hair. Carefully getting off the bed so as not to disturb her, he walked over to the window and opened it to allow in the gorgeous golden glow of the morning sun, just barely peeking over the horizon. The calming breeze that drifted through the window relaxed him, not realizing how cold it was to Aurora, making her stir. He glanced over at her as her eyes slowly opened, revealing the spectacular emerald green colour in her eyes. She smiled as she saw him walking over to her.

"I'm feeling better than last night, before you ask," she said.

Astro could only chuckle at her remark. She knew him too well.

"Well at least you're not severely hurt," he replied.

Aurora tiredly got up and stretched her arms, letting out a huge yawn.

"So, you do you want to do today?" she asked, since it was now Saturday.

"Hmm, we could go out flying while we wait for my dad to get up."

"Sounds good to me!"

She walked over to the wardrobe and pulled out her usual outfit to put on. Looking away, Astro studied the photos of Toby and his dad on the shelf above his bed. There were always those times when he just wished he could be human again, but he accepted himself nonetheless for the sake of the city's protection. He looked down at himself, thinking about the arm cannons and the rockets in his legs; features that a human could only dream of having. He was a one-of-a-kind robot, and he was glad to have that privilege.

"Ok, I'm done. You can look now," Aurora said, brushing her long, dark hair.

The super-robot turned around and waited for her to finish getting rid of her bed-head. Once she put down the brush, she walked over and took his hand, dragging him to the window. Astro took charge and performed a back flip through the window, plummeting down to the streets below. Aurora followed doing a front flip instead, and she soon caught up with him. She opened her wings to their full extent seconds before hitting the ground, and she and Astro raced down the highways at top speed, weaving in and out between cars. She was so caught up in the feeling of flying that she didn't notice the huge truck coming her way.

"AURORA, LOOK OUT!" Astro cried, seeing it was already too late for her to move out of the way. He raced forward and grabbed her just in time to see the truck driver not even bothering to look. Aurora gasped as she found herself in Astro's arms once again, and she nuzzled her head against his chest as he flew up into the sky. "How many more times do I need to save your life?" he said, smirking.

"Oh, shut up," she replied, raising an eyebrow and half-smiling.

He giggled as she leapt back into the air and hovered just in front of him.

"By the way, I didn't know you could dance like that," she said, referring to last night.

"Neither did I," he laughed, "it surprised me a little."

"I still have no clue what the other dancer was doing."

"Either he was just trying to get some attention or he really _was_ that clumsy."

They both turned their heads to a loud creaking noise from several blocks away.

"What was that?"

"I don't know. Wait here while I go check it out."

Aurora obeyed and watched as the hero dived down to see if everything was ok. The sound came from an old robot factory that was soon to be demolished. Astro landed inside and shunned at the creepiness of the building – something didn't feel right about the atmosphere. There were old and rusty robot parts littered everywhere, as well as broken machinery and equipment. He glanced over to a cracked conveyor belt that used to carry batteries or fuel containers to robots that were newly built. He noticed that it led into a different room, so he hopped on and crouched low to get though the small opening. He just wanted to get out of that room. Once inside, he just stood there, eyes flickering from corner to corner. It was completely empty, apart from the old bolt scattered here and there. He took a few steps forward and placed a hand on the walls. He could feel something strange from inside this room, like something was emitting some kind of radiation waves. It was beginning to affect his mind to the point where it felt like a human headache. He gripped his head and continued walking, trying to ignore the throbbing pain that was pulsing through his mind. His knees felt wobbly as he trod, but he soon realized it was the floor that was slightly rumbling and not his legs. Several deathly silent seconds passed until Astro couldn't take it anymore, and neither could the ground beneath him.


	7. Chapter 7 - Draconis

**Chapter Seven – Draconis**

"No, the red one, you idiot!" yelled a tall man in a white lab coat. He threw a green object at his assistant, who hastily rushed to obey. The scientist tugged at his dark brown beard, his midnight blue eyes concentrating on his creation. He grabbed a small laser-like tool and fired it in a small panel that contained an indent in the metal that looked like something circular was supposed to fit inside. His assistant came dashing back panting heavily as he handed his boss a red object that glowed ever so brightly. "Perfect," he said, walking over to a large, robotic head. He opened another panel where several others of the same object were, just different colours. He placed the one he had in his hand beside a cyan blue one and closed the panel. "This will stimulate its anger." He walked back over to the panel he was just working at and continued using the laser.

"Is there anything else you need, Sir?" the assistant asked, holding a clipboard in his left arm. He had short dirty blonde hair and hazelnut eyes. He wore a smart, white shirt and brown trousers along with shiny black leather shoes.

"Just one last thing. Hand me the chloroform in that test tube over there, and then on my mark, pull the switch," replied the scientist. He had short dark brown hair, a large forehead and a small nose. He wore small black-rimmed glasses, a long white lab coat and dark purple trousers. He too wore black leather shoes, but they were worn and losing their shine from all the work he'd done on his creation, and his name was Professor Bolton. The assistant, whose name was Mr Sam Saddick, darted off to do Bolton's bidding. He came back with the test tube and waited by the switch, watching the scientist place it inside a slot in the giant machine's neck. After pressing a few buttons on the control panel, he stood back and watched the gamma waves and radiation move around the robot, creating small sparks of electricity every now and then. The immense energy burst a few pipes on the ceiling, causing the structure to vibrate. He pressed another button and the energy stopped flowing around the room, leaving only silence behind. He signalled to Sam to activate the switch and watched the magic happen. Bolts of electricity were sent flying around the room, making Sam cover his head with his hands and duck under a table. The large, thirty metre-long robot that was lying on the table began to twitch and slowly raise its serpent-like head which had two long horns placed at the back. It opened its eyes to reveal a glowing cyan blue colour that slowly turned to red as it stood up. It had four long legs each with a taloned foot, and had two gigantic wings on its back that began to flap about like crazy. Its seven metre-long tail swayed violently from side to side, knocking down poor Sam and destroying several pieces of lab equipment. Its elongated neck slowly turned to face Bolton, who was grinning rather evilly at his robot's behaviour. Just like its eyes, it had a peculiar pattern covering it from head to tail that glowed the same colour. It opened its toothy jaws and let out a low growl as it stared his creator down.

"Welcome to the world, Draconis. I am your creator, Professor Bolton, and you _will_ be loyal to my every command," the professor said.

"W-what is it, S-sir?" Sam stuttered, slowly getting back up.

"This glorious creature is based off of the mythical serpent of legend: the dragon. She's quite the sight, isn't she?"

"She?"

"Yes, I programmed her to be female so she will theoretically have a more strategic mind."

The robot dragon tilted its head sharply upwards, hearing something from above.

"An intruder? This will be the perfect time to see what my girl can do. Go, Draconis. Do whatever you wish, for I am done with this place."

Draconis didn't need telling twice. She gave a mighty roar which rumbled throughout the entire building and promptly burst out the ceiling, sending a particularly poor robot hurtling into the sky.

"What IS that?" Astro asked himself, listening to the strange noises coming from a seemingly open space below. As if on cue, the floor rumbled violently one more time, and a flash of white and red broke through the floor and sent him flying upwards. "WHAT IN THE NAME OF HEAVEN AND EARTH?!" he cried, activating his rocket boots and righting himself. He looked down at the now demolished building, but couldn't see the object that came flying out anymore. He could definitely hear something though, and soon enough he felt something extremely cold being blown on his back, but when he turned around, he found himself being completely engulfed in flames that seemed to be coming out of nowhere. Before he could get a chance to fly from the intense heat, an amazingly strong force knocked him straight into the ground, creating a tiny crater from where he landed. The sheer strength of whatever hit him had knocked him out cold.

"ASTRO!" cried Aurora, racing towards the unconscious robot. She could feel her wings beating faster than ever before as she saw him lying on the ground, completely motionless. When she landed beside him, she tried shaking his shoulders to try and wake him up, but nothing she did made him open his eyes. With a huff, she just about managed to pick Astro up bridal-style and take off with him. She was amazed the she could actually carry him, let alone keep him suspended in the air. She was relieved to find Dr Tenma already awake and sitting in the lounge room. She landed on the balcony, darted in and placed Astro on the couch, much to the Doctor's surprise.

"Aurora? What happened?" he asked.

"We were out flying and Astro went to investigate a sound we heard and then something attacked him and breathed fire at him and, and-!" she replied, not taking a breath.

"Calm down! Now, what did this thing that attacked Astro look like?"

"I'm not sure, it was moving around too fast for me to clearly see it properly. But it _did_ have a red glow to it; that was the one thing that stood out."

Tenma then turned his attention to Astro, lifting up the panel and checking the blue core. Satisfied that it was ok, he closed the panel and called for Orrin.

"Yes, Bill?" he asked, wheeling over to them.

"I need you to scan over Astro and make sure none of his circuits are damaged."

"What on Earth happened to him?" Orrin asked, scanning over Astro's head.

"Something attacked him while he and Aurora were out flying this morning."

Finishing the scan, Orrin gave the report that Astro was ok. Now all they had to do was wait.

When Astro finally opened his eyes and sat up, he found Aurora squeezing the life out of him, thankful that he was alright. He hugged her back and told her that there was nothing to worry about. He knew that he would have to wait for the strange object to return again, not to fight it, but to study it. Whatever it was might be stronger than him. He would need reports from the police and witnesses to get a good idea of what it'll be like. In the meantime, he would just go about his usual routine and get to asking Aurora about the tingly feeling every time there was an awkward moment between them. Sitting on his bed, he wasn't sure how to start the conversation.

"Hey, um, Aurora?" he began.

"Yeah?" she replied, wondering what he was going to say.

"I… I was wondering, and I'm hoping that you know what it is, but almost every time I'm around you, I-I get this strange nervous feeling in my chest, and sometimes it won't go away. I don't know if it's something that robots usually get but it feels…well, I don't know."

Aurora, possibly knowing what Astro was feeling, asked him a question before saying if she knew.

"Do you have the feeling right now?"

Astro paused for a moment, concentrating carefully. Indeed, he could feel it ever-so slightly.

"Yeah, a bit…"

She smiled and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Oh, don't worry about that."

"Why not? I mean, I've never felt it before and I don't think Toby has, either. Can humans get the same thing?"

"They can, actually. Everyone gets it eventually."

"But what is it?"

"It's, well…" she began, not sure if she should tell him. It was then she got a thought. If Astro always had the tingly feeling around her, did he actually…? _No, it's not possible,_ she thought, _he's just a robot. But why do I…like him so much?_ "I don't think anyone really knows for sure. It has many different reasons for expressing itself."

"Oh…"

He felt slightly depressed that she didn't give him a straight answer, but he had to know what it was he felt he needed to do.

"Um, also, when I get this feeling, I feel like there's something I want to do desperately, but I can't figure out what."

"Don't ask _me _that. You have to figure it out for yourself."

He sighed and lay on his back.

"Then why do I have this gut instinct it has something to do with you?"

She stared at the floor, not wanting to answer. She wished he didn't ask her anything, for it was becoming just too awkward. If she answered anymore questions then he might get the wrong idea. Instead she just shrugged her shoulders and walked over to the window.

"Aurora, if you know, I need you to tell me. It has been bugging me for ages and I can't get my mind off it."

"Like I said, you have to figure it out for yourself. Everyone has to eventually."

She wanted to say something else, but she mumbled the sentence knowing it might hurt Astro's feelings if she said it clearly.

"Why do robots have to be so difficult…?"

"Huh?"

"Uh, nothing."

He raised an eyebrow, knowing she said something she didn't want him to hear. He immediately felt a sudden sense of guilt, for he knew he had darkened the mood for her. In attempt to cheer her up, he walked over and gently hugged her.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked. I'm just so desperate to know."

"It's ok."

She returned the hug by wrapping her arms around his neck and leaning her head against his chest. She inhaled deeply and was amazed that the robot actually had a scent, and a sweet-smelling one at that – at least to her. She always felt safe and warm in his arms; the comfort was never-ending in their embrace. For the first time in her life, a robot actually meant so much to her, and she didn't like being angry or depressed around him. He was the one thing she lived for, the one thing she believed in, and the one thing she had waited for almost all her life. Every second she spent with him made her feel happy, and she only wished she could tell him how she felt. When she first read the Bearer of the Blue Core prophecy, she pictured a tall, burly figure in shining armour saving millions of people's lives. She always daydreamed about meeting her hero and being with him all the time. She never would have expected her idol to turn out to be a teenage super-robot. Nonetheless, she accepted who her hero was, and now here he was, holding her in a warm embrace, just like she'd hoped for.

"Astro…?"

"Yeah?"

"I-"

She was cut off from her sentence by Dr Tenma, who opened the door quite suddenly.

"Oh, I'm not interrupting, am I?" he asked, hoping he hadn't just ruined a moment between the two.

The two of them let go of each other and just stood there sheepishly, their hands tucked behind their backs.

"Uh, no, no. It's fine," said Astro nervously.

"Alright then. I just thought that you'd like to see the news. It's pretty interesting, from what I've watched so far."

After exchanging glances between one another, both Astro and Aurora walked out to go and see what all the fuss was on TV. The reporter for the news channel was talking about eye-witnesses claiming to see a serpent-like creature flying through the air and destroying several buildings, most of which consisted of robot factories. People that were being interviewed were saying that this creature's ominous glow could change colour, but most of its appearances were in red or cyan.

"_There have been nine recorded fatalities from these terrifying incidents, and the murderous life form has now been identified as a robot. Police are still launching search parties to capture and study it, however they are still baffled by its unpredictable attacks on robot manufacturers and industries,_" the news reporter said, standing in front of a totally demolished building.

"Now that _is_ interesting…" Astro commented, crossing his arms. _All of these attacks on certain buildings… What is it trying to accomplish?_ he thought. _And what about its colour-changing glow? Surely it must mean something._ "Did the Uzaynes build anything like that, Aurora?"

She shook her head and said they didn't make robots that weren't humanoid.

"So, Astro, what's your plan?" Dr Tenma asked, focusing on the young robot's determined expression.

"I'll make sure that-"

He was cut off by what the TV reporter said next.

"_The city is gradually beginning to panic, and everyone is wondering where our hero, Astro Boy, is during the attacks. Riots have already gathered on the streets demanding his appearance._"

"Oh boy…" he finished.

"You were saying, Astro?" Aurora reminded him.

"I'll keep the city safe for now, but I'm keeping my distance from this robot. That thing caught me by surprise, and I don't want to be lying unconscious on the ground while the city is in danger."

And with that, he took off into the night to calm down the screaming citizens who wondered if he even cared anymore.

Once he found where the city's residents were, he wasn't sure whether he should try calmly reasoning with them or not. There were thousands of them holding up signs, parading the streets and shouting insults about him. Taking in a deep breath, he dived down towards the raging crowd and waited for them to quiet down enough.

"I need all of you to listen to me!" he began, hovering above the centre of the angry mass of people.

"Why should we listen to you when you let several of us die already?!" cried a protestor.

"These attacks are supremely unpredictable, and I can't always know where there might be danger. I'm going to try my best to keep all of you safe, but there is a chance that this robot may be even more powerful than I am. It has already knocked me out once, and I'm not risking that again."

"Why not!? You're supposed to be a hero, not a cowardly chicken!" yelled another protestor.

"I can't protect everyone if I can't even move, so for now I'll only be a defence. Attack and justice will come later, so please try to understand!"

He was glad some people agreed with him, but a majority of the crowd still demanded him to deal with the dragon-robot immediately. Tired of all the shouts of him not worthy of protecting the city, he flew off in search for the monstrosity of a robot.

He sat and waited in the quietest part of the city with his ultra-sonic hearing up to maximum range. He concentrated as hard as he could, trying to listen out for the same sounds he heard in the old factory. He waited for several hours, and just as he was beginning to give up, he heard something big creep up behind him. He turned around in a flash and held his fighting stance, bracing for an impact. But what he saw truly amazed him. The dragon-robot was just casually sitting down, looking at him.

"There's no need for that, you know," it said in a low and feminine voice.

Astro studied it closely, wondering what it was doing, and that's when he noticed that its glow was not a red, but a deep blue. Its eyes held a look of sorrow and longing for something, and that made him wonder if this robot had its own feelings like he did.

"Who are you and why are you attacking these innocent people?"

"Because I can."

"That's not an answer."

"Do you want me to send you hurtling towards the ground again?"

Astro clammed up, remembering what it did to him.

"Thought not."

"Ok, then answer this: why are you destroying a majority of the city's robot facilities and factories?"

"Pop quiz: what happens when there's nowhere to build robots?"

"…They can't be built at all?"

"Bingo."

"But why?"

"Hmph, you sure are a persistent fellow."

"Try me."

"Don't you get it? With every other robot out of the way I can gain control over these puny humans. If you're wondering why I haven't destroyed you yet, you're going to find out soon enough."

Her pattern changed back to a cyan blue, which reminded Astro a lot of his blue core.

"What do you have against them?"

"…Everything."

She glowed a dark red and fired ice at Astro's feet, immobilising him. She slowly circled round him, growling at a low and threatening volume.

"I plan to avenge my history and create a new world, bringing forth a more intelligent and powerful race. I'm just the beginning, the boost to a better and brighter future. My creator has the same dream as I do, and so I thought what better robot to tease and challenge than the might Astro Boy. It's such a shame that your own father cast you out of your own home, and yet when you saved the day he accepted you just because of your pathetic reputation."

"That's not true! My dad loves me just as he did with- wait, how did you…?"

"We have our ways, hmm?"

Astro struggled to break free from the ice but it was surprisingly strong, almost like obsidian.

"What do you mean by, 'avenge your history'?"

"Do you know of the time when humans first came into this world?"

"Not really."

"You really are pathetic."

Without another word, she spread open her wings and took off, leaving Astro the problem of getting back home. Right now his mind was a boggle of questions and confusion. She never seemed to give him a direct answer, as if talking in riddles. At least he had one clue, a clue that would need thorough research.


	8. Chapter 8 - The Unanswerable Question

**Chapter Eight – The Unanswerable Question**

Over the next few weeks, Draconis's attacks grew less frequent and Astro was able to keep anymore lives from being lost. He gave information on what he found out about her to Detective Towashi and waited for results, and the only thing he had learned so far was the robot's name. In the meantime, he only thought about spending time with Aurora. She'd been incredibly quiet since their little pep talk, and he wanted to cheer her up. He took her down by Metro City Park's creek one afternoon to get some peace and quiet. They sat down under a shady tree and listened to the gently flowing water as the birds' calls filled the air. Aurora picked up a dandelion puff and blew on it, sending its tiny white seeds gliding gracefully through the air. She giggled when she noticed one settle on Astro's nose. He blew it off and watched it land in the creek, drifting down its slow-moving current. It was then he had a thought. Was he water-proof? Knowing that even Dr Tenma's robots were sensitive to water, he hoped that he was still able to swim. He got up and slid down to the bank, putting a hand in the clear water and swirling it around. Aurora then joined him, using a stick to reach further in the water.

"You're wondering if you can swim, aren't you?" she said, noticing him ponder over putting his feet in the creek.

"Well, yeah, why wouldn't I? I'm sure my dad would've made me water-resistant, so I suppose it wouldn't hurt to try," he replied, moving into the small river.

Further down the creek there was a spot deep enough to swim around, and a few people sometimes went there to enjoy themselves. Seeing that his feet were fine, he proceeded down the creek until he hit the slight drop off. Aurora flew up behind him and sat on a rock nearby, hoping he wouldn't do anything stupid. He took a deep breath and dove head-first into the pool of water. Opening his eyes, he was glad that his circuits didn't explode from exposure underwater. He swam right to the bottom where he saw small fish gathered around the rocks – for the very first time. Even Toby had never seen live fish, so this was a spectacle in all ways. While he was under, he noticed something else: he didn't even need to hold his breath. He was able to hold his mouth open and speak clearly, something that he thought could prove very useful. He made his way back to the surface to see how Aurora was doing.

"Why don't you come in? The water's great!" he exclaimed, using his arms to float.

"Well, besides the fact that I don't want to get my clothes soaking wet, no one ever taught me how to swim," she replied, hugging her knees on the rock she was sitting on.

"Your clothes will be fine. They can just dry out when we get home. And I'm your tutor, remember? I'll teach you how to swim!"

She smiled and let her legs dangle on the edge of the rock; he had a good point.

"Alright, but I'm jumping in, so you have to catch me!"

Astro laughed and waited for her to jump. When she did, he scooped her up in his arms before she sank underwater. She placed her hands on his shoulders so she could float, despite being held by him anyway.

"Ok, Mr Clever Cogs, what do I need to know first?" she asked, relying on him to stay afloat.

"Well, if you kick your legs in a continuous pattern you should be able to stay on the surface without my help. Don't forget to use your arms, too."

She did as told and could eventually stay still without sinking.

"Floating is basically all you need to know to swim. Move your arms like this and kick your legs at the same time."

He began swimming in circles around her, showing her what to do in order to actually move. He taught her the different types of swim-styles, such as breaststroke, doggy-paddle and the frog swim. She soon developed her own way of swimming by using her wings like she would in the air. After swimming around for a bit and getting out and jumping back in over and over, Astro noticed that Aurora's clothing was becoming a little see-through, but that didn't bother him much. He just did his best not to stare. She asked him why he usually wore no clothes at all, even in public.

"Well, these boots and shorts are kind of like my trademark, and since they're a part of me I don't really mind. Besides, it's easier fighting crime when my clothes aren't getting destroyed," he answered, doing his best to explain.

"I guess that makes sense," she stated.

Astro decided to brighten the mood up a bit by playing a few games. He dove under the water and, to Aurora's surprise and utter shock, swam underneath her and then back up, so she was sitting on his shoulders.

"Getting bored, are we?" she said with a smirk.

"I'm only getting warmed up," he replied, suddenly tipping her backwards until she fell into the water upside down with a yelp.

"You little cheek!"

Using her wings to propel her forward, she leapt on top of him and pushed him underwater. However, before she could move away, he grabbed her hand and dragged her down with him until their eyes met. He slowly pulled her closer to him until she was right up against his chest. After several more seconds, she gestured that she needed air, so he let go of her and she swam to the surface. He soon joined her, swimming over to the rocks as he did so. He got out and readied himself to jump again. But just as he bent his knees to leap into the water, he noticed Aurora beginning to shiver violently. He stood back up straight and smiled.

"Come on, let's get you back home," he said, activating his rocket boots and lifting her up in his arms. He almost forgot about the snow clouds that were slowly drifting towards the city, making everything freezing cold. As he whizzed back home, Aurora curled up tightly in his gentle grasp, trying to keep warm from the chilling breeze.

When Astro finally landed safely through the open window to his bedroom, he put Aurora down to allow her to grab the necessary clothes and get changed in the bathroom. He shook himself of a few remaining water droplets while he waited, and he soon sat down at his desk to research what Draconis had told him. Her history… Did that refer to actual dragons? It never occurred to him that the creatures of legend might have actually existed, but when he began typing things in the research bar, it only came up with how they possibly could have been alive. It was then he tried videos instead of websites. After scrolling through some pretty useless stuff, he finally stumbled across a video called "Dragons: A Fantasy Made Real". He clicked on the link and watched intently as the actors found a preserved dragon in a bed of ice. They took it back to their lab to study its remains, and they gradually explained how it flew, breathed fire, how it nested and lived and how it found mates. The actors returned to the mountain where they found the dragon and found more evidence to the dragon's life. A much bigger dragon was discovered along with dead bodies consisting of medieval clothing and weapons. Astro gasped as he was watching a bloody battle unfold. The larger dragon was protecting its hatchling from humans, with much ended-failure from both sides. The people who invaded the mother's territory referred to dragons as "devils of the mountain", and the large and fascinating creatures even existed sixty-five million years ago. They had consisted of two wings and two legs, and were larger than a fully grown tyrannosaurus. When the meteor that hit the Earth wiped out a majority of life including dinosaurs, the dragons survived by swimming from extinction. They evolved and walked on land again, separating it into two families: the forest dragon and the mountain dragon. The forest dragon died out by humans discovering their most powerful weapon and turning it against them. That weapon was fire. The mountain dragon was driven to the snow-peaked mountains where it was safer, but there was little food. They could no longer freely hunt because man had tamed the livestock for farming. _So that's why dragons attacked farms. They had nothing left to hunt so they had no choice,_ he thought to himself. He knew that in the legends and stories people hated dragons for attacking their villages, but know he knew why. But was that the history that Draconis wanted to avenge? There _had _to be more to this.

He closed down his holo-computer and turned to face Aurora, who had finished drying off and changing.

"Researching?" she asked.

"Yeah. I can't stop thinking about what that Draconis said that night. I found something interesting, though, and it might hold a pretty juicy clue," he replied, getting up from his chair. "However, I need to study how she is built and see if she is based on the real skeleton of a dragon. If she is, then I can find out her weak spots with a little more looking-into."

They both gazed at the slowly sinking sun, casting a luminous glow of oranges, purples and pinks. _Luminous, just like Draconis,_ Astro thought.

"…Luminara…" he said unexpectedly.

"What?"

"Um, nothing."

He walked over to Aurora, took her hand and led her out of the room to tell his father what he'd found. After explaining it all with some great interest from Dr Tenma, Orrin called out that dinner was ready. Astro sat down beside Aurora while Tenma sat opposite to both of them. The service-bot placed down a plate in front of the two humans and gave Astro some of his special oil mixture. The young robot watched Aurora eat her food, wishing he could do the same. Well, he _could _eat food, but it wasn't the same. He took a sip of his drink and looked out to the balcony, glancing at the night sky that was littered with ever-shining stars.

"I want you two to get a good night's sleep tonight; you have a big day at school tomorrow," Dr Tenma stated. "You don't want to fail your tests."

_NO! I HAVEN'T STUDIED! _Astro thought. He'd been so busy protecting the city he'd barely even been to school. He looked to Aurora and gulped. He'll just have to see if it goes well.

"Alright, students! When the test appears on the screen, do not start until we tell you to. We expect you to sit in absolute silence while we sort out a few things. If you are caught doing the wrong thing, you will be given an hour after school," said the principle, walking around several of the desks. The whole of Astro's grade were sitting an exam in the emptied-out gymnasium, each separated a meter or so away from each other. Many of the students found it hard not to speak, but they managed to keep their mouths shut until the principle spoke again. There were several other teachers in the room too to make sure that the students weren't misbehaving and to provide help.

"Ok, before you start, I want each of you to write in your full names and then you may begin."

The students did as told and quietly began the exam. The topics consisted of everything: from maths to English literature, from science and to history as well. Astro passed the first topics easily, but when he got to the history section, that's when his mind began to confuse him. He stared at the question he was on, which read, "Which of the following mythical creatures were captivated by and often had nests full of treasure?" The options he could pick were hydras, satyrs, centaurs and…dragons. The first three creatures he knew nothing about, but he would've if he'd been going to school, since his history class's topic was Creatures of Legend. But dragons? He thought back to the video he watched and remembered the narrator saying that the shine from a knight's armour attracted a mate. If something shiny attracted dragons, then that would have to be the answer. He pressed "D" and waited for the next question to appear. He gasped when he read it. It said, "Using the space provided, write an essay explaining about a mythical creature of your choice. It requires a minimum of two-hundred words to pass." Without thinking about what he was going to write, he just let his hand do all the work, and soon enough he was done. He stared at what he wrote and was amazed at his results. He glanced at the bottom-right corner where the word length was displayed, and he had written five-hundred and fifty-four words – all about dragons.

Aurora slumped down on the sofa and switched the TV on; boy was she glad school was over. She'd finished her test in the nick of time and was quite exhausted. Astro sat down to join her as his father came into the room.

"Oh, hello, you two. How did your day at school go?" he asked.

"Completely and utterly boring," Aurora replied, letting out a big sigh.

"What about you, Astro?"

"It went ok, I guess," the robot said.

"Ah, that reminds me. The school have already marked and sent out your results."

"What?! Let me see!" cried Aurora, rather impatiently.

Dr Tenma sat down with the two teenagers and showed them the score on his holo-pad. Aurora groaned when she saw that she got an overall score of B-, but she soon gasped when she saw Astro's overall score. The young super-robot had gotten an A+ on all topics, which left him rather shocked.

"Well done, Astro!" Tenma approved, patting his son on the back.

"Thanks!" he replied, a large grin on his face.

As well as the score for the test, the school also sent the essay that the students had all written, and the scientist opened up both of theirs. Aurora's was done pretty well on hydras, but they were astounded as they read Astro's.

'_Dragons – myth or reality? These captivating creatures vary from many different colours, breeds, shapes and sizes. Recent scientific studies have proven that dragons just may well have existed, even alongside the dinosaurs as well as humans. _

_These serpent-like animals had the most unique ability of any living thing: the ability to breathe fire. But how exactly do they do so? The internal organs of a dragon is slightly different than most life forms, the most unusual one being the fact that they had not one, but two pairs of lungs, known as their "fire" lungs. These sacks contained a large quantity of hydrogen gas, which is not only flammable, but also gives extra lift, being one of the possible reasons that dragons were capable of flying. The gas was produced by chemicals in that of flesh, which was the dragons' main source of food. But in order to produce flame, they needed to ignite the gas in some form or shape, and that's when the natural substance of platinum comes in. The dragons had flat, grinding teeth in the back of their jaws which suggested that they ground down the platinum into nothing but dust, and when all of the elements inside the "fire" lungs are mixed together, it combusts, producing a mass amount of flame on command. However, this great weapon that had been their main tool of survival would soon become their ticket to their demise. _

_Humans had soon discovered how to not only produce fire, but also its properties, which consisted of using it to clear forests, make weapons and cook food. The dragons had been driven to the mountains for their safety, for their numbers were decreasing rapidly. The once free roaming livestock were now in the hands of mankind, which drove the dragons to desperate measures. They attacked the farms and villages in search for food, and this is the reason that we were misled into thinking that these beasts were nothing but blood-thirsty monsters, killing for the sake of killing. These majestic animals were only trying to stay alive, and we led them down the path of extinction by calling them devils and mistreating their way of life. Many people nowadays believe these tales to be nothing but old legends, recorded into stained glass. But there is a possibility that these dragons really did exist, along with a more interesting type of breed._

_There have been many stories of elementals, dragons of which that could bring forth and control amazing powers. The main and most common of these were electricity, ice, water, earth, wind and shadow dragons, each bearing their own unique capabilities. While it is still unknown if such a creature existed, it is still possible that every aspect of our weather and the atmosphere around us fell heavily upon these great beasts. While remaining in their respective habitats and possessing their own different weapons and abilities, whenever two or more dragons of the opposite elements clashed, the fights would often lead to destruction of not only the environment around them, but also their own lives. There are many captivating legends about the reptiles, but there can only be truth. Although we may not see them, dragons may still be alive, simply sleeping, waiting for a better world where they can co-exist with all forms of life.'_

Once Tenma had finished reading it out aloud, Astro gasped, suddenly realizing what he'd wrote. He'd just written what Draconis was talking about and is possibly planning.


	9. Chapter 9 - This is Only the Beginning

**Chapter Nine – This is Only the Beginning**

"Alright, Astro. Orrin is going to look after you and Aurora for a few days. I have extremely important business at the Ministry to take care of," said Dr Tenma, giving one last look around the living room.

"Sure thing, but what's the 'important business'?" Astro asked.

"I'm not entirely sure yet, but you'll see what it is once I return. Be good, you two!"

And with that, he exited the building and entered his limo. Aurora walked over to Astro with a look of boredom on her face.

"Yeah, I know what you're thinking," he said to her.

"Well, maybe we could invite your friends over?"

"It depends if they're available. If they're not, I suppose we could see how things are going in the streets."

"Sorry, but I draw the line at that! A school is enough for me."

"Hmm…"

They both sat down on the couch, sighing.

"Are you sure you want to begin this project, Tenma?" asked Dr Elefun, as he walked over to the scientist at his lab bench.

"I know that Astro has Aurora with him, but I get the feeling he's still a little lonely. Of course I want to begin," Dr Tenma replied, grabbing several robot parts. He walked over to the bench where he had created Astro and several other robots and placed the parts down in specific spots. "I don't want to make the same mistake I did when Toby was still around." Just mentioning his long lost son's name made him shudder, but he kept his dignity nonetheless.

"I just hope this works…"

"Come on, robot boy! Can't you take anymore?" said Aurora, smirking.

"N-no! Stop, I can't take it, alright! Haha!" replied Astro, rolling on the floor and trying to evade her.

"Who would've thought a robot could be ticklish?"

She stopped tickling him and helped him up.

"Alright, your turn!"

"What?!"

Astro leapt forward and began tickling her in the sides, making her drop to the floor and attempting to push him away.

"Who's ticklish now?"

"No, get off me! Hahaha!"

She managed to hit his arm away and scramble back to her feet. They both began laughing hysterically and sat back down.

"So, what now?" she asked, looking at her feet.

Astro just shrugged his shoulders and looked up at the ceiling, putting his arms behind his head. Aurora glanced over to the kitchen and began to get up.

"Well, while you're thinking of something, I'm to get something to – WHOA!" she cried, losing her footing and heading straight for the floor.

In a flash, Astro managed to catch her seconds before she face-planted, and he helped her back onto the sofa to snap out of the shock.

"Are you ok?" he asked, gazing into her eyes.

"Y-yes. I think I'm going to pass the snack for now, hehe…"

It took a moment for Astro to realize that he was still holding onto her, so he let go, blushing a fierce red again. He looked away and crossed his arms nervously. Hugs were ok, but any other kind of contact seemed to make him feel rather awkward. She began to suggest things to do when she sensed this.

"We could always watch a movie."

"I guess. What did you have in mind?"

"I don't know. What DVDs do you have?"

The still-blushing robot got up and walked over to the TV, pulling out a drawer from the cabinet that it stood on. He browsed through the different titles and eventually asked Aurora to come and pick, since he didn't mind whatever they watched. She pulled out a movie called "The Amazing Spiderman", since it sounded pretty cool. Astro, not knowing what the movie was about either, put the disc in the DVD player and sat back down. After the movie's intro had finished and it had rolled into the main story, Aurora ruffled her wings at the mention of a cross-species. Astro took her hand and smiled at her, trying to reassure her. They laughed at the humorous parts and gasped at the dramatic parts. Aurora was lying on Astro's shoulder at the scene where the main character (Peter Parker) was standing on the balcony with a girl called Gwen Stacy. Astro watched intently as Gwen began to walk away and was suddenly pulled into a kiss by Peter's web. He glanced down at Aurora who was suddenly looking up at him, too. He blushed and looked away, not even looking at the movie anymore. He used his free arm to rub the back of his neck out of embarrassment when she giggled. She stopped leaning on his arm to help him feel less awkward, and although it _did_ help, he kind of wanted her to stay like that too. Aurora couldn't deny her feelings towards him, and she always found it adorable when he began feeling awkward. He looked back to the movie when the kissing scene was over, and he gained the courage to glance back at Aurora.

As the sun was setting and was casting a glorious golden glow over the skyscrapers, Aurora's head fell into Astro's lap as she fell asleep. They had been watching movies all day and Orrin soon joined them, having nothing to do. Astro looked down at the sleeping Aurora and smiled, gently picking her up and taking her to his room. Orrin turned off the DVD player and TV and went back to his afternoon duties. Astro had looked out the window after placing the bat cross-species down, and he could've sworn he caught a glimpse of Draconis. Shaking his head, he walked over to his desk and turned on his holo-computer. Doing his best to stay quiet, he found an online game to play while he was bored. It was where one could play as a robot character and so all sorts of missions, and since Astro had become somewhat famous, there was already an avatar of him in the character selection. He made an account and logged in. The server was full of other players, and when they saw his user name (AstroBoy) and his avatar, they all asked if he was the real thing. The people in the server could click his name and see his profile picture, of which had been a quick snapshot of himself winking with a thumbs up. When everyone saw this, they all screamed and begged for him to add them to his friend list. _Whoa, calm down, everyone!_ he thought. He typed that very thought into the chat bar and hoped that the players would notice it. He was glad when most of them started apologizing. They began asking him all sorts of questions about what it was like being a robot and the hero of Metro City, and he answered them politely. Afterwards he went on a few missions with some of his new friends, of whom were Cutegirl164, Gl4z3r, Mouthofdoom9 and MysticBot.

"_Aww, come on! No fair, Astro!" _said Mouthofdoom9, as he just got blasted by Astro's arm cannon.

"_Not my fault that I have more powerful weapons than you! XD" _Astro replied in the chat bar.

The five of them were playing an arena battle, and so far Astro and MysticBot were tied with the top score.

"_Suck it up, princess," _MysticBot replied, shooting Cutegirl164 down with a pair of built-in machine guns in her shoulders.

"_DANG IT! Oh well, I still can't believe I'm playing with the real Astro Boy! :D" _cried Cutegirl164 after respawning.

"_I know, right?"_ said Gl4z3r.

"_Aww, you guys flatter me, you really do!"_ said Astro, saving Gl4z3r's life from Mouthofdoom9 and then obliterating him afterwards.

"_Dude, you're famous! Why wouldn't people say nice things about you?" _replied Cutegirl164.

All their characters stopped and they whined when the round was over, with Astro in first place, MysticBot in second, Gl4z3r in third, Mouthofdoom9 in fourth and Cutegirl164 in fifth. Astro said that he had to go and everyone said their goodbyes. He logged off, shut his holo-computer down and glanced at the clock. He had been playing for several hours, so he decided to get some sleep. He lay down beside Aurora and made sure he didn't make her stir. He closed his eyes and silently drifted off.

Aurora began tossing and turning in her sleep, having a horrid nightmare. She saw herself running down a long, dark corridor that was filled with all kinds of robots trying to kill her. She kept running and running feeling like she was as slow as a sloth. She saw the typical light up ahead, and when she finally reached it, she stepped into a completely bright white room. She saw Astro on the other end and began walking towards him, not noticing that each step she took made the room turn completely black. Just as she was about to touch his shoulder, he snapped and gave her a good punch to the face. Looking up, she saw his eyes had turned fully red, with little sparks of electricity jolting around them every now and then. She tried screaming but her mouth didn't seem to work, and she was soon surrounded by a pit of black. Her eyes shot open and she clung to the nearest thing to her, which happened to be a startled Astro. She was panting heavily with her eyes closed, practically squeezing the life out of the poor robot.

"Aurora! Are you ok?" he asked worriedly, placing his arm over her in the hopes to comfort her.

She glanced up at him with tears welling up in her eyes, and soon buried her face back into his chest, sobbing violently.

"I was running away from all these robots who were trying to kill me, and then I saw you in this bright room and as I got near you, you punched me and I tried screaming. Your eyes were all red and-" she began, barely taking a breath.

"Shh, it's ok, it was just a dream. I'd never ever hurt you, and I'll make sure that no one else does either."

Her sobbing soon ceased, and she glanced back up at him, gazing into his gentle-looking eyes. She rested her head back on his chest, still looking at him though. She then moved her gaze to where his panel was and opened it, revealing the blue core. Astro wondered what she was doing, but he stayed put and let her do whatever it was she was going to do. She slowly placed two fingers on the blue core's cool surface, and a wave of happiness suddenly passed through her. Astro didn't know why, but he let out a couple of slow and heavy breaths, her touch relaxing him. The tingly feeling in his chest seemed to overwhelm him, but he enjoyed it somehow. She lifted her fingers off the core and stared at it for a while, smiling with the positive energy that now flowed through her. She closed the panel and shut her eyes, leaning once again into Astro's chest. He finally realised what she did; she used the blue core's energy to calm herself, but it seemed to affect him too. He felt just as relaxed and happy as she did, if not even more. He too closed his eyes and kept her close to him, slowly drifting off again, both of them dreaming happy dreams.

"I am disappointed in you, Draconis. Are you forgetting your place?" asked Professor Bolton, casting his robotic creation an angry glare.

"Believe me, I am not forgetting why you created me. Astro Boy has the potential energy to bring back my race, and I am simply testing him. However, I _do_ need all the other robots out of the way, and robot factories are becoming harder to find. I do not wish to reveal myself too much, or my up-coming scheme will fall to ruin," replied the mechanical dragon, bowing her head in respect.

"And what is it you wish to do with Astro?"

"Everyone says that a robot's own emotions and thoughts give them strength, but I know exactly how to break him – not physically, but mentally. If he is going to help us, then I need to see about the choices he will make. It will put him through a lot."

"And just _how_ are you going to weaken him? Go on, enlighten me."

Draconis smirked and raked her claws along the ground.

"In order to break his very soul, I need you to help me gather information on those in his daily life."

"And why is that?"

"…I will pierce his heart and make him wish he were destroyed!"

With that, she scurried out of the room and took to the skies, an evil grin creeping along her snout.

As the young robot opened his eyes when morning came, he stirred, waking up Aurora too. Their eyes met and they both let out a small giggle.

"Morning, Aurora," said Astro.

"Morning, Astro," Aurora replied, yawning.

She closed her eyes and leaned against him, too tired to get up. As Astro was about to say something else, Orrin wheeled into the room without warning.

"Good morning, you tw- oh… I'll um, I'll just leave you two alone…" he said, noticing how close they were to each other and exited the room.

After a few more seconds had passed, they both began laughing. Aurora soon sat up and stretched her wings out, finally relieving them of the tight space they were in. Astro stood up and looked over to the window.

"Well, would you look at that…" he said.

While the sky overhead was overcast and not providing much light, it was already a snowy kingdom outside. Aurora raced over to the window and opened it, reaching out her hand and trying to catch the falling snowflakes. She giggled as she brought her hand back in, staring at the water that had collected in the palm of her hand. Astro stepped up beside her, and just as he was about to close the window, he received a handful of water thrown in his face. Aurora laughed and ran off, closely followed by a wet Astro.

"Get back here!" he yelled, laughing simultaneously.

An unfortunate Orrin came around the corner carrying a stack of books to rearrange, and Aurora barely missed him, making him drop the books.

"Sorry, Orrin!" she apologized, still running from Astro.

Mumbling to himself, he picked up the books again and finally made his way over to the shelf. Astro soon caught up with Aurora and tackled her to the ground, trying his best not to be too rough.

"Got ya!" he cried, pinning her down.

After much giggling and playful struggling, Aurora gasped as if she'd been stabbed through the stomach, and she scrambled away from Astro when he got off her.

"Aurora, what's wrong?" he asked, sitting beside her.

"I-I'm sorry; there are just some things that I can't forget…" she replied, hugging her knees and looking away from the young robot.

There was a long and solemn silence as the two of them sat on the floor, not doing or saying anything. Astro wanted to put his arm around her, but considering she'd just been reminded of something from her past, he decided to get up and leave her be. He walked over to the balcony and sat on the edge, so that way she wouldn't be left completely alone. He gazed out over the city, watching all the cars rushing down the roads. Aurora soon stood up and walked over to the kitchen, opening the fridge door as she did so. She pulled out a bright red apple and began chewing on it, savouring the sweet flavour it contained. She glanced over to Astro and felt sorry for him. It wasn't his fault that he was a robot and the things he did reminded her of her life on Uzayne. She felt the need to talk to him to ease the mood, but it would have been just too awkward. Instead she simply made her way over to him and stood by his side, not saying a word. She cast a sideways glance to his face and saw the feeling of guilt currently being expressed. He didn't look at her or made it look like she was even there. He didn't want to make her feel like she was back on that alien world, constantly being tortured and abused. Every time she felt depressed, he felt responsible for those memories coming back to her. At times he thought it was best that he wasn't around her. He was just thinking about taking off when she finally spoke.

"…I don't want you to feel guilty or anything. It's not your fault and I know that you want to help me."

He turned to face her, thinking of what to say back.

"But I don't see how I can when I'm just making things worse."

"Making things worse?"

"If it wasn't for me you wouldn't be remembering things that you can't forget. It's better if I'm just not around you."

"Astro, if it wasn't for you I'd be dead."

He gave her a look of shock before she continued speaking.

"Not just here on Earth, but also back with the Uzaynes. Remember how I told you that the Bearer of the Blue Core prophecy was the only thing that kept me going?"

Astro nodded and listened intently.

"It gave me hope and strength. Without it I may have just let myself die. When I finally came back here, though, it felt like things were pointless and no one would ever come to accept me. Dr Collards always kept dangerous things away from me so I didn't get any ideas, but I seriously wanted to commit suicide. I didn't leap off any of the balconies because I always thought my wings would react and take to the air, besides the fact that I wanted to die slowly and not so suddenly. I wanted to feel all the pain being let out before I left this world… And then you came along."

Astro's full attention was focused only on her as he slid of the edge and stood beside her, completely shocked by how she had felt.

"You were the only one who truly cared about me despite being a robot, and when you showed me the blue core, I finally felt complete, like I'd finally found the thing I had been dying every day for. You taught me almost everything I know and you've been my friend all this time. Seeing your face every day makes me feel like I finally belong in this world, and I'm grateful for that."

She took both of his hands and held them softly as she finished what she had to say.

"The last thing I want is for you to feel like I'm better off without you. You saved my life, and now I think it's time for someone to save yours."

The super-robot was utterly gobsmacked. He had no idea that she felt that way about him, and he could only gaze into her eyes as he tried to find the words to reply. Instead he smiled at her and pulled her into a warm hug.

"Thank you, Aurora."

Over the next two days, Astro couldn't stop thinking about what Aurora had said to him. The way she just opened up about what she was going to do to herself was just beyond him. Each day they grew ever-more fond of each other, and they soon became inseparable.

"Come on, you two! You don't want to be late today!" cried Orrin, making breakfast for Aurora.

"Ok, we're coming!" Astro called back, pulling away from yet another hug and grabbing his bag. Aurora did the same after pulling on a warm jumper and a pair of jeans, and followed him out into the living room to fill up for the day. Long hugs between the bat cross-species and robot each morning had become a regular thing, and Orrin found it hard to get them to focus on getting ready for school. He just couldn't understand why they did it so often. Aurora ate her breakfast and Astro checked his circuiting before packing everything they needed. They all piled into the car when Orrin started it up, and Astro tried contacting his father while Orrin drove them to Metro High. After trying multiple times, he just couldn't get a hold of Dr Tenma, so he sat back in his seat and sighed.

"Don't worry, Astro. I'm sure he's just busy," Aurora reassured him.

"He's _always_ busy," Astro replied.

He let out another sigh and looked out the window, watching the falling snowflakes float gently to the ground. He saw the bus for the primary school driving alongside them and waved at the students trying to catch a glimpse of their hero. His smile grew even bigger when he caught sight of Sludge and Widget pressed up against the window, their arms flailing around like flags in the wind. When the large vehicle turned down a different road, Astro slumped back against the seat again and waited for Metro High to appear before them. When it did, he and Aurora exited the car and slowly mad their way over to the two glass doors at the entrance. As they entered, the students wandering about the halls gave them the usual attention, so everything was just as normal…or not.

"ASTRO, ASTRO!" cried a young boy bounding down towards the robot.

"What's wrong?" Astro asked, focusing his attention on the boy.

"I SAW SOMETHING IN THE SPORTS FIELD THIS MORNING AND IT LOOKED REALLY SCARY!"

"Ok, ok! Calm down. What did this thing look like?"

"I didn't look for long because I didn't want it to see me!"

"Alright. Aurora, wait here. I'll go check it out."

Aurora nodded and went over to her locker as she watched her tutor see to this "scary thing". The young robot soon found himself in the courtyard and he quickened his pace to reach the field sooner, just in case he might miss what the boy had seen. Once he had stepped onto the soft snow and had everything within his view, he scanned the area to make sure it was ok to proceed. The chilling wind and misty horizon gave the field an uneasy eerie feeling, and he didn't want to be there for long. He could feel the cold nipping at his skin, trying to fight its way through to his wiring. That was about the only way he could sense the freezing temperature as a robot. Suddenly, his eyes caught something disappearing into the snow – something with a strangely familiar red glow… His legs became a blur of red and black as he dashed through the snow; there was no way Draconis would be harming the students at the school. The snow made it harder to run, but with his super-strength it wasn't much of a problem. It seemed that with each step he took, Draconis only seemed to be getting further away. He tried running faster, but he soon found himself with a face full of snow as he face-planted the ground. He lifted his head and spat out the water that collected in his mouth. He glanced back over to where the dragon robot was, and to his surprise, the red glow that made herself visible in the mist has just stopped. He tried standing up, but his feet had sunk into the snow, so he activated his rockets and shot into the sky, soon landing back down. He looked around for Draconis, but she was just…gone.

"Alright, Draconis, show yourself! I know you're there!" he called out. If the dragon was trying to frighten him, it was doing a darn good job of it. His head whipped around in all directions as he frantically searched for her. How could a giant robot-dragon that glows be so hard to spot? Suddenly, he heard the familiar sound of cogs and mechanical whirring as something circled around him.

"Hmm, so _persistent_. I don't understand why you care for these humans," said the creepy feminine voice that lurked behind him.

Astro gasped as she suddenly popped out of nowhere right in front of him, her red glow lighting up the snow around them.

"Enough of that. Why are you here?" Astro asked, holding a stance.

Draconis's tail thwacked him in the back of the head, making him face-plant the snow again.

"_That's_ why, you worthless piece of junk."

Astro scrambled to his feet and attempted a punch towards her head, just missing her as she ducked. She swung her head up and moved it in a circular motion until it crashed into Astro, knocking him back.

"I wouldn't even bother. You know you can't fight something you know almost nothing about."

_Wait, that's it!_ Astro thought. _I know virtually nothing about her, so I'll have to act like I'm trying so I can learn what she can do._

He activated his rocket boots and flew behind her, grabbing her tail and tried pulling her upwards. Succeeding, he ascended completely vertical until she fought back. She snapped her head upwards, opened her jaws and let loose a fury of flames upon him, making him let go.

"AHH!" he screamed, trying to batt out the fire that was burning his clothes.

The commotion soon brought a majority of the teachers and students out, which only made Astro worry about their safety even more. With his clothes utterly destroyed, he ripped them off and threw them into Draconis's mouth as she came back to light him on fire again. Many of the girls down below began going crazy once they saw him wearing nothing but his shorts and boots. One of them even fainted. All that aside, the rest of the students cheered him on, hoping that he would make it. Draconis made a lunge for the super-robot and attempted to sink her claws into his skin. There was no way Astro was having that, so he activated his arm cannons and shot right into her underside. She yowled in pain and hovered for a moment, recovering from Astro's counter-attack. He noticed something activate on each corner of her wings, and before he knew it, she was propelled forward and began flying around him whilst breathing out something icy. Astro shielded his face with his arms as she created her own vortex of snow and ice, which threatened to freeze him in place. She was travelling at such a velocity that there was no way out, even from the top and bottom of her personal snow-tornado. The gale-force winds began tugging at his rocket boots and soon sent him spinning out of control. Each time he got close to the edge of the vortex, Draconis knocked him back until he came into contact with her again, eventually being thrown about like dice in a cup. The crowd below gave off a look of pure horror as the protector of Metro City was being tossed about like a little girl's ragdoll. There was nothing they could do to help him, and he didn't know what to do either. He was not expecting this kind of attack. Draconis soon left the vortex when it became self-sustaining, and there were huge chunks of ice flying about now instead of her. Her evil grin slowly turned towards the students and teachers, and her deathly glare was enough to let them know what was coming.

Astro opened his eyes to find himself in an icy prison, only just being able to see something going on outside. The snow-twister must have frozen in on itself and fallen to the ground, trapping the poor robot. A small, flickering orange light could be seen on the other side of the ice, and he dreaded the thought of what it might be. He stood up and gave a mighty punch, cracking his freezing cage. He gave it another hit and it broke completely, and what he saw before him truly would scar him for life. The school was on fire and totally in ruins, and in front of it sprawled many unconscious, injured and even dead students and teachers. The unmelted snow was stained with blood and specked with ashes. He couldn't even move at the mere sight of a bloody battleground. His eyes darted around the frightened humans, desperately searching for his friends. He soon caught sight of them hunching behind a partially-destroyed wall, hugging each other for comfort. He gave a sigh of relief and began slowly walking towards many of the students, knowing that it was too late for most of them. In the distance he could hear the sirens of an ambulance on its way, so he rushed over to check on his friends. How could one robot do so much damage…?

"Aurora, Cora, Zane! Are you guys ok?" he cried, dashing over to them. When he turned the corner and saw only Cora and Zane, he began to panic. Where was Aurora?

"Astro!" they both cried, Cora completely in tears and Zane doing his best to stay strong.

"Before you ask, we don't know where Aurora is. We haven't seen her since the attack," said Zane, his voice slightly choked up.

Hugging Cora for reassurance, he told them to stay where they were while he looked for her. He let go of his friend and ran off, calling out Aurora's name. He looked all over the school for her but there was no sign. He checked all the insides of the school as well as outside, but there was just no trace of her. He was on the merge of tears when he suddenly heard a cry from the room next to him. He broke through the flaming wall and called out her name again.

"_Astro, help! I'm…stuck!"_ shouted out a muffled voice that came from nearby.

Astro looked all around him until he saw a small portion of her shoe protruding out from underneath a fallen piece of the ceiling. He skidded over and looked under the gap, finally seeing her half-crushed by the heavy cement and plaster.

"Aurora! Hang on, I'll get you out of there!" Astro called out to her.

He looked around his surroundings and made sure that nothing else would fall on top of them. Once he was satisfied, he grabbed hold of the edge of the ceiling and lifted it up slowly, just in case Aurora needed him to stop. She crawled out from underneath and sat on the floor, waiting for Astro to drop the heavy piece of debris. He hurriedly picked her up and rushed her out of them building and back with their friends. They were sitting by one of the nurse-bots who was tending to the wounded. He set Aurora down next to them and knelt beside her.

"Are you alright? Are you hurt? Did Draconis do anything to you? Did-"

Aurora giggled and covered his hand with his mouth.

"One question is enough," she replied.

Astro smiled and hugged her, but he immediately let go when she yelped in pain.

"My…my wing! I think it's broken!" she cried, letting lose tears and shuddering every time her left wing touched something.

Astro called for a nurse-bot to assist her. The robot wrapped a bandage around her injured wing after inspecting which parts were broken or sprained.

"Bones fractured in several points with a dislocated joint. I would not recommend flying for several months, Miss," it said in a steady and robotic-like tone.

The bat cross-species began sobbing uncontrollably, knowing that she wouldn't be able to go flying with Astro for quite some time. He sat on her right side and put his arm around her, being extra careful not to touch her wing. He looked around at the bomb-site of a school. Many of the people who'd been hurt by Draconis or flying debris were taken to hospital, and the field was cleared of those who had unfortunately not survived. He began to cry himself, not only because Aurora had gotten hurt, but also because he had let many innocent lives die in a single day. There was no way he could forgive himself for this. Cora and Zane joined them to huddle together and comfort each other, considering this had been the worst possible day of their lives. This was only just the beginning…


End file.
